Trapped In His Asylum
by WarrickAvenue
Summary: Sakura Haruno has just started her first day of employment as a registered nurse at a mental hospital. This hospital is much different from the rest though, for all the patients housed here possess a special gift. On her first day she notices that there is only one dark room. The patient housed there is Sasuke Uchiha...because he has to be. Her curiosity is sparked instantly.
1. Steel Doors

Chapter 1: Steel Doors

I took a slow, deep breath as I stared at the hospital. This was my first day on the job. As a registered nurse one is able to work in any part of the medical field, whether it is pediatric or geriatric, cardiology or oncology -the playing field has a wide field of options. But as for me…the area I chose was far more advanced, far more mentally perplexing, and far more dangerous.

_***This place looks like it's from the 1700's…***_ I thought to myself. I swallowed my spit and it painfully tried to force itself through my esophagus; anything to ease my nerves. I watched my feet as I walked up the collapsing concrete stairs. The hospital was very secluded as a result of the individuals it held. Maybe that was why when I made it to the top of the stairs I stopped at a count of 300.

"Phew!" I panted as I wiped the sweat from my forehead. It didn't help that it was humid outside either. That muggy feel like it was about to rain.

"Oh wow…" A jaw dropping inhale was all my brain could spark as my eyes mistrusted what they were seeing. The hospital that I was finally allowed to see was enormous. Its proximity isn't what startled me though; it was the fact that I _knew_ it was from the 1700's now. The place was falling apart! Weather damaged bricks were scattered before my feet making the path to the entrance challenging as I cautiously marched forward. Vines grew over the bricks and a layer of dust shrouded over its surface like a dark concealment. My mind continued to believe what I was seeing was definitely from a horror story as I noticed daunting gray clouds on the horizon.

"I hope it doesn't storm tonight -OHH SHIT!" A blinding white light followed by a loud roar of thunder nearly stopped my heart. Adrenaline pumping and knees shaking I darted for the main entrance before the rain started to pour.

"Hello…HELLO!? Anybody!" I was frantically pressing the white button and screaming into the speaker at this point, hoping someone could sense the urgency in my voice.

"Ma'am calm down, how can I help you?" Sounded like an older woman, an annoyed one at that.

"H-Hi I'm sorry, my name is Sakura Haruno. I am here for my first day of employment." A long silence went by. If she heard me the first distressing time, then she had to hear me the second time. I considered pressing that button once more, but that first outburst clearly didn't make a good impression. I was frightened by a loud creaking noise that seemed to last for an extensive period. I leaned back and seen two large doors begin to open. I jogged over to them and waited for their launch to finish. Clearly they have not been unfastened in a _very_ long while. Standing there terrified, all I could see was darkness beyond those doors. A final squeal was produced as the massive doors locked in place. I began to walk towards the darkness truly inspecting the doors with each unsteady step.

_***Steel. These doors are made out of steel.* **_with that thought I swallowed my spit once more. My heart was beating out of my chest and my stomach was in turmoil. Evidently my body was telling me to run, to get the hell away from there as quickly as possible. But my mind is much more persistent and would not heed. And with that stubbornness I was merely steps away from entering into that eerie darkness. The sound of something electronic ticked my ear and I looked up to my right to see a camera on the wall facing at me. I continued walking forward as I watched it watch me walk into the hospital. A loud buzz went off and that loud creaking noise returned once more as the steel doors began to close. I turned around to watch them, and to see the beginnings of a torrential down pour begin to unfold.

_***Looks like I made it in just in time.***_ the doors finally shut and I closed my eyes to try to take a calming breath. When I opened them back up I blinked twice; my pupils constricted and my eyes mistrusted what was in sight once more. Dents on these steel doors, but not only dents…blood; lines of blood, as if they came from someone scratching… torn nails from flesh.

"Ms. Haruno?" A gasp from being severed from my inner thoughts came out. I turned quickly to see a welcoming man smiling at me. What I had anticipated in that split second, for his voice sounded comforting…ordinary.

"Oh, I'm sorry if I frightened you…" the man said. He looked over at the door and realized what I was staring at. He rubbed the back of his head and laughed a little.

"Yeah not the best thing to see on your first day is it?" Trying to humor me actually worked. A sweat drop formed on the back of my head I giggled a little; couldn't let him see that for a moment, I was weak.

"I presume it should be expected in a place like this. I apologize for not adapting immediately." Couldn't have two bad first impressions, the first one over the speaker probably made me seem crazy enough.

"No Ms. Haruno no need to apologize! I will have one of my boys come clean this up. I thought I told one of them already…" He said irritably with his arms crossed. I noticed the red pressure point on his head and laughed. He instantly lost his annoyance after I laughed and glared at me.

_***Uh…***_ I immediately stopped laughing and squeaked leaning back a little. He smiled and reached his hand out towards me.

"My name is Iruka Umino, I run this place." Eyes wide in surprise I shook his hand feebly. Such a feat to surmount; and how this man of no more than 30 did so was beyond me.

"I can see you're surprised. My father recently passed away so I took over. I pretty much grew up here so I know the ins and outs. This hospital has been passed down in my family for generations." How someone could basically grow up in a place _like this_ and be so cheery had me dumbfounded.

"I see I will be learning from the best!" I said thankfully. How could of I acted any other way with a jubilant guy like him? Iruka smiled and put his arm around my shoulder.

"With an attitude like that you will do just fine. Let me show you around Ms. Haruno." I blushed a little at his gesture. He seemed more paternal about it though, so it didn't bother me.

"You can call me 'Sakura' if you'd like Mr. Umino sir." Iruka lifted his eye brow and smirked at me.

"As long as you can call me 'Iruka' then. No one refers to one another as Mr. or Ms. around here anyways. We're like a big family; we all rely on each other…especially if one of our patients gets out of hand. We need to be about helping each other no matter what around here, or someone could seriously get injured and everyone knows it. Always abide by that mentality no matter what ok Sakura? Leave any petty problems or disagreements at the door when you clock in for work." At this point Iruka was kneeling in front of me with his hands on my shoulders. He was looking directly into my eyes. I was just leaning back awkwardly returning his stare.

_***Hope he doesn't see me blushing!***_ I nodded my head up and down and he stood back up.

"Thank you Sakura." Iruka said. I followed closely behind as we both weaved through the hospital's dimly lit corridors. Quite a few minutes went by; unfortunately I wasn't sure how long since my watch seemed to have stopped working.

"Here we are." Iruka stared at what was another pair of steel doors. These were just as large as the entrance.

"My goodness these are just like the ones out front!" I exclaimed. Iruka put his hands on his hips and smirked.

"Yup, 20 feet to be exact!" I estimated that much when I had seen the first set out front. Iruka took a deep sigh and I looked over at him. I could sense some nervousness emitting from him. With that I quickly felt it coming on myself and looked back at the doors.

"S-So, this is the sector I will be working in?" Iruka looked over at me and sighed once more. It felt like he was miles apart from me. He was very uneasy.

"Ages 16-25…the most dangerous of them all." Iruka rubbed his forehead with his index finger and thumb as some sort of tension relief. I gulped at the word 'dangerous'.

"So this hospital consists of subdivisions according to age?" I asked. Iruka nodded.

"Yes, all ages from young to old. Generally speaking, the age of the patient usually dictates the severity of their psychological handicap. Along with age comes strength as well. Our teenagers and young adults are at the prime of their physical development, so they are the hardest to handle. Also, their brains are not fully developed in regards to cognitive skills, another reason why they are the hardest to handle. With this combination they are tremendously hazardous."

"Oh I see. I always assumed they would be divided in regards to severity, not age. But you prove a good point on why you do it this way." Iruka sighed once more.

"No you're right Sakura. Typically any mental hospital _would _do it that way. You remember well from your schooling. But as the rumors have told you, we take the wickedest of all cases. They come here when no other hospital can handle them. We strongly believe that the brutality of their cerebral state has to do with brain development, age being a precursor to their actions and mental processes." I nodded in agreement. Iruka seemed like he knew what he was talking about. I felt as if I could trust him whole heartedly. But no wonder this place was isolated. No wonder I needed a special badge to get in the main a gate…no wonder this place was full of 20 foot steel doors. Speaking of steel doors, I heard that peculiar creaking noise again.

"Take in everything you see and hear little by little ok Sakura?" Iruka said. I could hear some uneasiness in his voice again. A blinding white light shined through the middle of the doors as they opened. I held my hand over my eyes trying to get a better view. Iruka walked over doing the same thing with his hand.

"The sectors that our patients are in must be very well lit! To save money on electricity, we keep the lights in the hallways dim!" He yelled over the creaking of the doors. That final squeal was produced by the doors as they locked in place and I began to walk inside. Their sound was all too familiar with me even though I had only heard them open once before.

"Hold up Sakura, let me walk with you! Stay close!" Iruka said jogging up to my side. A camera watched us both walk inside the white light and that responsive buzz went off. The steel doors closed. My ears ticked, and my eyes shifted…observing. Iruka put his hand on my shoulder as he took a puff off of his cigarette. He knew this could've potentially fucked me up mentally if I weren't mentally resilient. This room was lit up a bright white. The walls were white, and the tiles on the floor were a light blue. Like an operating room feel. It was unnerving. Patients were housed behind a 2 inch thick glass; more than likely bullet proof. A small bed, stainless steel sink, and stainless steel toilet were provided. Outside of each so called 'room' they lived in was another one of the speakers with that white button.

_***Must be how the nurses communicate with them for safety. * **_I thought.

"This sector can house 100." Iruka took his last puff and threw the cigarette on the ground. He squashed it with his foot and stretched his arms towards the ceiling. His comforting hand left my shoulder. I looked down at my empty shoulder and up at him. He smiled and put his hands in his pockets.

"Shall we?" Iruka started walking and I followed behind thoroughly observing the patients. My training from college took over and I got into the RN state of mind.

"WOAH WHAT THE FUCK? H-HEY GET BACK HERE LADY!" What seemed to be a patient flew from around the corner and slammed into me. I fell but caught myself with my hands as my pupils constricted once more. A bad feeling came over me. Something I sensed from that patient. Shortly after, a young man with blond hair and captivating blue eyes slid around the corner. Time seemed to go in slow motion as he made eye contact with me. I could see in his eyes that he was asking 'who is that?' His cheek had a large red mark on it. Time returned to its usual state and he dashed towards the patient.

"DAMN IT NARUTO!" Iruka screamed. By that time Naruto was trying to restrain the patient. The loose white gown was easy for her to slip around in making it hard from him to wrap his arms around her. I wasn't sure how, his arms were very muscular. Demonic screams escaped from her lungs as she kept slamming her shoulder against the steel door. The same spot each time. Slowly but surely she was forming a dent. Easily she maneuvered herself between Iruka and Naruto. Images of the steel doors at the entrance flashed back to my attention. I looked at her hands and seen bandaged fingers.

_***That is her! She did **__**that**__** to the entrance doors!***_ my mind was screaming but my mouth stayed silent.

"Iruka I got her! Give her the stuff!" Naruto was sitting on her back. With one hand he was holding both of her wrists like handcuffs, and with the other hand holding the back of her head to pin her face against the ground. Iruka pulled a syringe out of his pocket and pulled the cap off with his teeth. He shoved it into her neck aggressively. The vein in her neck looked like it was going to burst through her skin. She made eye contact with me. She looked manic, possessed. Then in a matter of seconds…she was out.

"I-I'm sorry Iruka! I gave her a shower and she cooperated fine. But when I tried to put her back in her room she punched me in the face and took off!" Naruto and Iruka argued back and forth for a few minutes. I processed what just happened and began to help myself up. The boys heard me grunt in pain and Naruto ran over. He grabbed my hand and put his arm around my back.

"Hey I'm really sorry about that are you ok?" He talked loud. He seemed a bit spazy too.

"Don't apologize, its ok, N-Naruto right?" He smiled and I blushed realizing he was still holding my hand so…well like a gentleman would. He smelt nice, and he looked well-built too. I could see it through his scrubs.

"Naruto this is my new hire, Sakura Haruno. Sakura this is Naruto Uzumaki." Iruka was smoking another cigarette.

"Hey nice to meet you Sakura..." Iruka crossed his arms and began tapping his foot. He could see that look in Naruto's eyes; curiosity, caring, something that Iruka was not in the mood for. Not after that slip up. The tapping caught Naruto's attention. That pissed look on Iruka's face wasn't any better. The burning cigarette that was hanging out of his mouth completed it. Naruto swiftly jumped away and looked back over at me.

"Oh! Well I got to finish the showers, see you soon ok!" Naruto jogged over to the unconscious girl and carefully picked her up bridal style. I admired how gentle he was with her. Iruka and I followed behind Naruto around the corner. I watched discretely as he placed her in her bed. Then he pulled a remote out of his pocket as he left the room. A glass wall sealed the room seconds after. He walked a few steps to the room next door and used the same remote to open the glass. A petite girl with long black hair and hypnotic lavender eyes housed there. She was looking away. It seemed like it was hard for her to breathe.

"Come on, Hinata." His voice was very, very soft with her. She scooted to the corner of her bed and curled up into a ball.

"It's ok Hinata, I won't look." He walked into her room and gently took her hand to pull her off the bed. She did not fight him. He walked ahead of Iruka and me through the hallway holding her hand the whole time. She was blushing immensely at this point. Naruto had a smile on his face the entire time. I picked up speed so I was walking close next to Iruka.

"He is very pleasant with her." I said. He seemed to care about her. It gave me a warm feeling inside. He respected her, psychologically handicapped or not.

"Yeah he's good kid. He treats my patients exceptionally. He actually cares y'know? I can tell he loves his job." Iruka smiled.

"So I assume he bathes all of the patients in this sector?" Iruka nodded.

"He has to with his own hands. There is too much worry of self-harm from the patients otherwise. But with her there's an exception. That girl is Hinata Hyuga. You could see from the color of her face that she is quite taken by Naruto. And you could also see that Naruto handles her on a more delicate level. Normally of course I would have an issue with any of my employees forming a partiality with one of my patients. But this is a bit different, see, Naruto knew her outside of this place. He knew her before she was ever put into any hospital." Iruka looked down. I gave him a puzzling look.

"Oh my…" If I was working here then I was going to find out about all of the patients. I had to ask.

"What's her story?" It felt like I was crossing a line by asking. Iruka seemed disturbed when speaking about her.

"Very long story short, she was raped. It fucked her up so badly that now she is here. She was in a much less severe hospital of course. I mean she would never harm herself or anyone else…unless needed…but that's a different story. According to Naruto, she has a special gift. He demanded to have her transferred here once he found out. She is a special case if you will. She is part of only a handful of patients in this hospital that is allowed to bathe themself with their own hands. Naruto must stand in there with her of course, that's protocol, but he turns away out of respect. You will learn that a lot of these patients have a special gift. But with an unstable mentality comes misuse of that gift." Iruka seemed different now; seemed internally focused.

_** *Poor thing…***_ hearing the word 'rape' made my pupils constrict, a heartbeat was skipped. But now it really made me feel at ease that Naruto was so tender with her. He took care of her so well. She needed that if she is ever going to recover, ever going to _trust_. As we both continued to walk down the hallway I see a very long hallway to the right. It looked as if no patients were housed there. But all the way at the end in the left hand corner was a room that was completely dark. As if the lights were off on purpose. My lips parted…that small action when something speaks to a person's soul…it took my breath away.

"Hey Iruka…" I stopped walking and tugged on his sleeve like a child. He stopped and looked at my eyes, then redirected his focus down that hallway.

"Iruka why is that one room on the end pitch black?" I assumed he had that horrifying reason that I was anxious to hear. Iruka sighed and closed his eyes for a moment. He opened them back up with an unwavering look in his face.

"That patient down there is Sasuke Uchiha. He is alone in this hallway because he is unsafe. No one is allowed to be housed in that hallway besides him…ever. He's really messed up Sakura. Only Naruto can handle him..." I gave Iruka a curious look and he sighed again. He knew what I wanted. But he could see the innocence and youth in my face, and it scared him.

"Later on Sakura, let's just get to the office." Iruka began walking but for some reason I couldn't take my eyes off of that dark room. The aura pouring out of that hallway filled my senses. But I abided to Iruka's wishes and started jogging to catch up to him. That dark room just wouldn't, no…_couldn't_ leave my mind.


	2. Nightmare

Still the same Chapter 2, just fixed it a little bit. Tried to make it easier to read 'cause I know I have long paragraphs. Last thing I wanna do is confuse everybody !Sorry and thank you!

* * *

Chapter 2: Nightmare

_***Why am I back at the hospital? Where is everybody?* **_It felt like something was sitting on my chest. My adrenaline was through the roof. I was in front of the steel doors inside of my sector. All of the glass walls to the rooms were open, but no patients were anywhere in the hallway.

"Iruka!? Naruto!?" My gut was telling me that it was no use. Then again, it was telling me I wasn't alone either. I began walking forward down the hallway. Slowly I walked since my body was trembling. Some relief came over me when I had seen that turn where Naruto and I first laid eyes on each other; I knew I was getting close to the main office.

_** *S-Something doesn't feel right…I shouldn't go around that corner…N-No, why, why am I still moving…?* **_I sensed something malevolent around that corner. But as much as I tried to fight it, my legs kept walking. Like an out of body experience, per say. Finally my body made it around the corner, while my mind was screaming to run in the opposite direction. I squeezed my eyes shut as my body trembled forward. I could hear a strange nose, something indescribable. Energy of some sort…I could hear it. Fear forces my eyes open, my heart skipped a beat. The main office lay straight ahead of me, but one of the hallways adjacent to this main one had a black aura pouring out of it. The aura looked as if it were dancing. But then it hit me; my pupils constricted immediately.

"That's Sasuke's hallway." I whispered. After that statement I felt that I regained control of my body. But I didn't run…I just stood there, spellbound by the life-like aura. Slowly I walked towards it. Before I knew it, I was blankly staring down that hallway. The aura moved towards me in one large mass. Then, what almost looked like arms shot out of it. I fell back and landed on my hip. Stumbling I scrambled to my feet and began to run towards the entrance where I first was, but it was inevitable; they were too fast. The arms wrapped around my body and dragged me down that hallway…Sasuke's hallway. Everything went black. When I regained consciousness I quickly opened my eyes. I blinked a few times; this place wasn't familiar to me. I was lying on a cold floor. I used a considerable amount strength push myself up just so I was sitting. My body felt so drained, so heavy. I looked to the left to see the well-lit main hallway, and I looked to my right to see a wall. Images of the aura carrying me away flashed to my attention.

_***I'm in that hallway.* **_Once I realized where I was I immediately look straight ahead of me to see only darkness. I studied closely to see that outside of the darkness was a speaker with a white button on the border.

_***This is Sasuke's room…* **_my heart skipped a beat and the feeling of terror, but yet, melancholy overwhelmed me. I wasn't sure what to do. The aura was no longer present; it was just me and this room. I could sense somebody, or something, was in there.

S-Sasuke…?" His name barely left my lips, saying it took my breath away. Shortly after that black aura returned and began circling me. It swirled into something like a tornado and lifted me off of the ground; I couldn't scream. It forced me to stare into _his_ room. It was holding my eyelids open; I couldn't do anything but stare. A devastating feeling of impending demise came over me, like _something_ was coming. Demonic sounds deafened me as the aura's winds became stronger. I see something in the darkness, eyes…a pair of glowing red eyes, those of a monster. Instantly I couldn't breathe.

"NO!" I throw myself up gasping uncontrollably. I couldn't catch my breath. I put my hand on my chest to feel that my shirt was soaked, I was sweating profusely. I closed my eyes and became internally focused. I imagined myself breathing normally, concentrating on how to actually do that. Gradually I started to catch my breath.

_***I have never been this out of breath in my life…* **_I hugged my knees and concentrated some more. Finally I was breathing like anyone would if there were sedentary. I looked over at my alarm clock. It was 5:00pm.

_***I need to get ready for work.* **_I leaned over to turn off my already set alarm for 5:30pm. I undress as I walk to my bathroom and turn the shower on. I brushed my hair back with my fingers. I wiped the condensation from the mirror and looked myself. There were dark bags under my eyes even though I got a full 8 hours of sleep. I sighed and stepped into the shower. Images of my nightmare tortured me. After my shower I put my uniform on and drove to work. Images continued to torture me. My stomach was in knots. Once I got to the parking lot I could see some employees walking to their cars.

"Uh-oh…" I said while holding my stomach. I kept swallowing my spit and hurriedly found a parking spot. Barely doing so in time I step out my car and vomit. The employees in the parking lot all stop and stare at me with offended faces. I just slam my car door shut and walk towards the main gate. There I see Naruto swiping his badge to unlock it.

"Hey Naruto." Naruto looked over and smiled at first, but then looked concerned.

"Oh hey Sakura, are you ok? You don't look so good." Naruto put his hand on my forehead.

"Well you don't feel warm; you look a little pale though. And you've got some serious bags under your eyes." I sighed and used my hand to sluggishly wipe my face and Naruto laughed.

_***What a jerk! He sure knows how to make a girl feel hideous!* **_

"Oh I see, you're not used to the night shift yet are you? Felt weird sleeping during the day didn't it?"

"Uh…yeah." I said drowsily. Of course he didn't know that wasn't the issue at all. Naruto patted my head and gave me a reassuring smile.

"You'll get used to it Sakura! You won't even think about sleep while working with me!" Naruto was using his thumb to point at himself.

"You're such a goof." I say elbowing his stomach with a smirk. Then I run past the gate and begin walking up the stairs.

"Hey Sakura!" I heard in the distance. Naruto had his hands around his mouth to enhance his shout.

"WHAT!?"

"Why are you going that way!?"

"UGH…" I impatiently walked back down the stairs.

"What do you mean?" I asked. I was face to face with him now.

"You don't have to go up all of those stairs you know. There is a secret entrance for employees. You just need your badge for it." I get an infuriated look on my face and Naruto laughs.

"I can't believe Iruka didn't show you before you left this morning!" I followed behind him as we walked down a pathway to the right of the stairs. Less than a minute later Naruto stopped.

"Here it is!" He said happily.

"Oh yes, how could Iruka forget to show me this lovely door on the side of the mountain." I said sarcastically. Naruto laughed and swiped his badge to unlock the door. We walked inside and I looked around in bewilderment. It was literally a secret tunnel underneath the hill outside of the hospital that the stairs were on. We walked down the tunnel for a few minutes. I wasn't sure how long because my watch had stopped working.

_***Again? It thought it started working after I got home this morning.* **_I heard Naruto's footsteps stop and I look up from my watch. Standing there were two armed guards in front of an elevator. They looked as if they were from them military.

"Oh REAL nice." I said sarcastically. Naruto walked up to the elevator and hit the only button with an arrow pointing up on it. When the door opened he stepped inside. When I started to walk I was stopped by one of the guards placing their arm across my chest.

"Oh! Right, sorry Sakura. Show them your badge." Naruto said. He put his hand in front of the elevator door so it wouldn't close. I reached into my pocket and held up my badge. The guard nodded his head and let me walk in.

"What was that all about?" I asked.

"Yeah sorry I forgot to mention, just wear your badge around your neck at all times. Even though we both came in together, they don't know if you're an employee or not. No one is allowed through that tunnel unless they are an employee. So when they had seen my badge and not yours, I'm sure they assumed that you were just a friend of mine or something, and that's not allowed. You're never allowed to bring anyone personal through this way. Otherwise, you would need to walk up those damn stairs." Naruto shook his head back and forth.

"…and the armed guards?"

"This is a maximum security hospital. If any of the patients were to escape the premises someone could really get hurt. We have guards surrounding the outskirts." My eyes widened a little and Naruto shrugged his shoulders. The elevator door opened. When I stepped out I realized where I was. Immediately I looked over to my left to see those steel doors. They still had dents and blood all over them. Naruto was walking over to them rolling up his sleeves. On the floor in front of the doors were gloves, a bucket, a mop, 2 large sponges, outerwear, goggles, a mask, and a spray bottle that said '1-10 Solution: Bleach & Water'. Naruto put the yellow outerwear on first, then his goggles, mask, & gloves. He dipped one of the sponges and wrung out the soapy water.

"Hey I've got to clean this up; Iruka asked me to 2 days ago. Do you think you could start the showers for me?" I just stared at him.

"Are you comfortable with that?" A silence went by. He blinked at me. I knew I was more than capable of doing the showers, but I was nervous. I sighed and nodded. I could only see Naruto's eyes but I could tell he was smiling. I turned to my right and started to walk down the hallway.

"You'll be fine Sakura!" He hollered. I waved my hand back at him and continued walking, soon after I was in front of the steel doors to my sector. I looked up at the camera and that creaking noise started. The doors opened and I squeezed in between them before they could finish. I power walked down the hallway towards the main office.

_***Don't think about it, don't think about it. Just go, just go.***_ Repeating what I wanted my body to do wasn't successful. I was approaching Sasuke's hallway. I was dreading this moment. Still, I stopped in front of it. I swallowed my spit and squeezed my eyes shut. I turned my head to the right. I opened my eyes to see nothing at out the ordinary. His room was actually lit. The hallway looked normal. I sighed in relief and began walking forward. Suddenly I heard a loud popping noise and glass shattering. I immediately ran backwards to look back down hallway. On the left hand corner was Sasuke's room, pitch black again. I looked up at the light to see sparks coming from it and small pieces of glass falling onto the hallway floor. I gasped and ran to the main office. When I opened the door I saw Iruka sitting at a table. He had his hand on his forehead; his hair was laced through his fingers. He was looking at some paperwork.

"Hey Sakura." Iruka said. Then he turned his chair to face me. He had bags under his eyes like mine.

"How'd you know it was me?" He stood up and leaned back against his hands. I heard his spine crack.

"Who do you think let you in?" He lit a cigarette and pointed to the monitors on the wall. They were for this sector only. Each monitor had a number above it. These allowed us to watch the hallways and patients. Each room had an individual number and camera. I looked over at the monitor whose picture was all black.

_***Number 17…***_ Iruka noticed my facial expression and looked at the monitor I was staring at. He sighed.

"Ugh, again? This is the second time this week!" Iruka threw his hands up in the air and fell back into his chair.

"What's wrong?" I asked. I knew that was the monitor to Sasuke's room.

"Remember the one I told you about, Sasuke Uchiha? Well he always breaks the light whenever someone replaces it. I don't know what the hell he gets his hands on to throw at it! I've got to talk to the day shift. Maybe he has been sneaking in rocks from outside or something during their recess. It's ridiculous that he would even be able to though. All patients are frisked before they come back in. I mean, where do you think he's keeping them rocks!? They should be monitoring him much closer. But wait…99% of the time he doesn't even go outside! He refuses to! I DON'T GET IT." Iruka was holding his head with both of his hands comically.

"It drives me crazy Sakura! Ugh, what time is it…6:58pm. Well YOU are here on time. Where is NARUTO? He better be here in 2 minutes!"

"Iruka its ok Naruto is here. He is cleaning up the main entrance's doors like you asked. I assume you were the one who left all of those cleaning supplies there." Iruka stopped fumigating and blinked at me twice.

"I know that female patient that you had to inject yesterday was the one who did that to those doors. I saw her fingers." I said. Iruka crossed his arms and looked away.

"Oh I forgot I left that stuff there for him." Iruka smacked himself in the forehead. I couldn't help to laugh at his bizarre actions.

"Hey Iruka, Naruto asked if I could start the showers for him. Are you ok with that?" Iruka spun his chair towards his paperwork.

"Yeah, sure, fine, whatever. You did superb on your training yesterday. I trust you. Go ahead and get started, I'll clock you and Naruto in." Iruka placed his hand on his forehead and began studying his paperwork again.

"Thank you!" I said. I opened the door and Iruka wheeled his chair over to grab my hand.

"Oh wait, don't forget your remote! Do you remember how to use it?" He placed it in my hand.

"Oh, right…sorry. And of course I do!"

"No need to say sorry. And I'm right in here if you need me." I smiled and closed the door. I began to walk towards the steel doors figuring I will start from the beginning. Images from my nightmare suddenly came back to me. I realized I was approaching Sasuke's hallway again. I stopped in front of it once more and stared at his room.

_***Only Naruto can handle him…* **_Iruka's voice was echoing in my head. But my curiosity was echoing louder. I knew Iruka was buried in paperwork, not to mention, he was facing away from the monitors. Naruto was at the entrance cleaning the doors. Now was my only opportunity. And with that knowledge I started to walk down that hallway. The mysteriousness of this patient was now haunting me in my dreams; I had to see him for myself. Mental images of what could be fucked with me. I imagined the black abyss swallowing me whole, not to mention all of the evil creatures I paired those red eyes with. I walked to the end and faced his room. I just stood there staring at it. I knew something was staring back at me, and it didn't like me. I stepped closer to it and the crunching of the broken glass startled me. I contemplated trying to look inside like any curious human would, by pressing my nose against the glass cupping my peripherals to get a better view. Trepidation fought with me for a while because of the possibility that something could slam against the glass and scare the shit out of me. But curiosity used is persistent demeanor once more and I heeded.

_***Ugh I can't see anything!***_ I put my left ear to the glass and couldn't hear anything either. I noticed the speaker on the wall. I stood in front of it and held in the white button.

"…hello?" There was no response. I sighed in disappointment and backed away from the room.

_***Open the glass, you have the remote, so do it!* **_I pressed 1, 7, and then squeezed my eyes shut and pressed the large red button once. The glass immediately lifted. I opened one eye, nothing happened.

_***I-Is he going to come out…?* **_I was trembling.

"S-Sasuke…?" I could only speak a little louder than a whisper.

"I know you're in there!" I tried for a bit more confidence in my voice, but it still had a low volume.

_***Talking from this distance is no use.***_ I walked forward, and stepped one foot into the room. I hesitated, and before I could take that last step I felt calloused hands grab my arms. I was slammed into a wall. The light from the hallway was my only aid. I could barely see anything, but what I could make out was the figure of a man clenching his fists. Clearly I had intruded, more so that I had to leave. I looked to my right to see that the hallway was just a few steps away. That well lit hallway seemed like it was the most important place I needed to be. I tried to run for it but was met with an arm slamming me back against that wall. I squeezed my eyes shut when he hit me. His arm lay across my upper chest and I felt his hand cover my mouth. He slammed his hand against my mouth so hard that the back of my head banged against the wall. Then I felt something press against my neck. I swallowed my spit and felt the object move with it, slightly nicking me in the process. I grimaced at the sting of it and felt blood seep down my collar bone.

_***This isn't happening, this isn't happening! Oh God what if he kills me! I-I can't handle feeling that pain… I can't do this!***_ Images of the red eyes from my nightmare was all my mind would allow me imagine behind closed lids. My fight or flight response kicked in. I knew I had done this to myself, so I had to face him…now.

_***JUST LOOK AT HIM SAKURA!* **_I finally opened my eyes to see a young man with glowing red eyes staring at me.

_***Those eyes…* **_my nightmare had just become a reality. Instantly panic overwhelmed my mind and body. I was no longer feeling that brave impulse I did moments ago. Tears started to pour out of my eyes. I saw him break eye contact with me. He had blinked for the first time and looked down at his hand. He continued to look at it and stopped pressing his hand so firmly against my mouth. I continued to focus on his eyes; I could see the reflection of what he was looking at. My tears were flowing from my cheeks over his fingers.


	3. Steam

Thank you everyone for your reviews. :D! They mean a lot. Hope you like chapter 3!

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Chapter 3: Steam

Sasuke never lost that reflection in his eyes. He continued to stare at his hand, and lightened his press against my neck. I stayed entranced on his eyes. For a moment, I was completely calm. An extended period of silence went by until my focus was broken.

_***Is he getting closer?* **_He looked back into my eyes. I could feel his breath on my lips. I blushed and felt weak to my knees. My heart started pounding once more. My vision had adjusted to the darkness and I could truly see what he looked like. The attractiveness of this mysterious boy was becoming quite apparent.

_***Wait, what am I doing?* **_I slid down the wall and his arm that was across my chest fell against the wall. I jumped for the doorway but was met by Sasuke. He somehow warped in front of me in a split second. I slammed into his chest and he pushed me back against the wall once more. He pinned me to it just like before. My head banged against the wall again when he covered my mouth and his arm was against my chest. The excessive amount of tears returned.

"Who the fuck are you?" He spoke slowly. He dropped the object, uncovered my mouth, and held my arms with each hand.

"WELL?" He shook me aggressively when saying this.

"Are all you're going to do is cry? Answer me! WHO ARE YOU? WHY THE FUCK DID YOU COME INTO MY ROOM?" He was screaming in my face. I tried to speak but was hyperventilating.

"I-I'm the new nurse!" He gave me an annoyed look.

"…new nurse..? Where's Naruto?"

"H-He's c-cleaning t-the d-doors." Sasuke still looked annoyed.

"I'm sorry! I-I was just trying to start showers. Naruto asked me to!" Sasuke released my arms and threw me back. We both heard a door open.

"How is everything going? …Sakura?"

"Iruka!" Sasuke ran behind me and covered my mouth. I felt him put his lips against my ear. Goosebumps lifted from my skin.

"Go ahead, I dare you. Scream." He uncovered my mouth and pushed me forward. I inhaled and then shrieked on the top of my lungs. Immediately after I heard Iruka start running.

"Sakura!?" In a few seconds he was in front of Sasuke's room. I ran out into the hallway.

"Sakura I told you not to…UGH! Sasuke get out here, now." Sasuke walked out into the hallway. He and Iruka glared at each other. I was mesmerized by his form under normal lighting. His eyes weren't red anymore, they were black. I could see such distance, such pain in those eyes.

"I-Iruka wait! I can explain…" Iruka and Sasuke broke their stare and looked over at me.

"Well uh, the only reason I came down here, you see, uh, was because…"

"Out with it Sakura."

"U-Uh I thought I heard Sasuke! Yeah, like as if he were in pain or something. And I remembered that when he broke the light glass fell onto the floor. So I thought maybe he hurt himself! I went to go make sure he was ok, which he was! A-And but then I uh, I saw a bug!" I was rubbing the back of my head and smiling. Iruka had an amusingly annoyed look on his face. Sasuke was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed and one foot propped up against it. He was staring at me blankly.

"Yeah! So when I uh, you know, saw the bug I screamed! But Sasuke killed it for me. So everything is ok now!" I swallowed my spit and laughed nervously. Iruka closed his eyes and breathed hard. He rubbed his forehead with his index finger and thumb.

"I-I'm sorry Iruka! It won't happen again. I should've waited for Naruto. But you know, as a nurse I am obligated to help my patients. I thought he may have hurt himself on the glass." Iruka nodded and put his hands in his pockets. Suddenly we heard pounding.

"Oh shit, forgot about Naruto! You two, stay here while I let him in." Iruka ran up the hallway. I looked over at Sasuke. He was staring at the floor. He looked lost in thought.

_***Sheesh, close one Sakura!***_ I took a deep breath and ran my fingers through my hair. Sasuke looked up at me and I quickly looked at my feet. A few minutes went by until I heard Naruto laugh. I looked down the hallway. I see him carrying a ladder and Iruka carrying long white rods, a broom, a dustpan, and a black trash bag.

"Ok so Naruto is going to change the light bulbs, AGAIN, and you are going to sweep up the glass." Iruka handed me the broom and dustpan. He shook out the trash bag and sat it on the floor. Naruto rested the ladder against the wall and climbed up a few steps. Iruka handed him one the rods and sat the rest of them at the bottom of the ladder.

"YOU are coming with me." Iruka grabbed Sasuke by the back of the neck and began walking down the hallway. I heard Sasuke growl in anger. Iruka looked over at him.

"Don't you even…" He slammed Sasuke's face against the wall and handcuffed his hands. When I looked at Sasuke's face I could see that his eyes were red again. Iruka grabbed the pressure points on his neck and forced him to walk once more. I just stood there staring in disbelief.

SASUKE'S POV (THIRD PERSON)

_***I can't believe she didn't rat me out…* **_Sasuke thought. He tripped forward as Iruka tried to speed him up. Iruka walked him to the shower room and pushed him inside.

"Stay here." Iruka walked out of the shower room and slammed the door behind him. Sasuke looked around the room for some kind of escape, but it was no use. Shortly after Iruka returned with a chair, duct tape, and a rope. Iruka sat the chair in the middle of the room. He walked over to Sasuke and wrapped duct tape completely around his head so it covered his mouth. Then he ripped Sasuke's clothes off and pushed him onto the chair. Sasuke struggled to escape and Iruka squeezed the side if his shoulder and neck. Sasuke instantly sat limp. Iruka tied him to the chair.

"I'm getting real tired of you. You think I couldn't tell what Sakura told me was a cover up!? I could see right through her, not to mention that cut on her neck. It certainly was not there before she left my office. You are not going to fuck with my staff or hospital any longer. Next slip up…and I'll kill you personally. I own this place! Who do you think anyone is going believe?" Iruka spit in Sasuke's face and laughed vindictively.

"You're the crazy one, remember?" Iruka laughed again and walked behind Sasuke. He could hear Iruka turn the shower knobs one by one. Freezing water poured onto Sasuke. His body couldn't even react when the water first hit him since he was still paralyzed from Iruka's squeeze. He started breathing rapidly in panic.

"You're going to wish it was still this cold in a minute." Steam started to fill the room. Sasuke could only scream a muffled scream behind the duct tape.

"Let this be a lesson to you." Iruka left the shower room slamming the door behind him. Sasuke could only stare at the door as he heard Iruka lock it.

NORMAL: SAKURA'S POV (FIRST PERSON)

I reimagined seeing Sasuke walking into the light. The image of his face was all I thought about while I was sweeping. My stomach had butterflies in it. As I was sweeping I noticed a large piece of glass with blood on it. I thought back to when my neck was cut.

_***So this is what he used.***_I picked up the piece of glass and stared at it.

"Sakura could you hand me another light?" I gasped and dropped it onto the ground. I looked over at Naruto and nodded. I walked over to the ladder and handed the rod to him. I watched him climb back up to install the last one.

"Okay that should do it. Here it goes!" Naruto reached his hand onto top of the light and I heard him press a switch. The light blinked at first but then completely turned on.

"Like it never happened!" I said. Naruto smiled and climbed down the ladder.

"I'm going to put this away and grab another trash bag for you ok?"

"Thanks Naruto." He took down the ladder and I continued sweeping. I replayed Sasuke's unveiling in my head again, but then I remembered something.

_***Why did Iruka and Sasuke look at each other like that? That wasn't just any angry look.* **_I focused on the image of them glaring at each other in my memory. I knew there was something much deeper going on than just some minor disliking for one another.

_***And the way Iruka treated him…* **_I scowled and tightened my grip on the broom stick.

"Hey Sakura!" I jumped and looked over to see Iruka smiling and waving at me.

"Iruka why are you acting like nothing happened?" Iruka jumped from my outburst and scratched the top of his head.

"Whoa, what do you mean Sakura?"

"You know damn well what I mean." I threw the broom down and clenched my fists.

"Why did you treat Sasuke so aggressively? You know dealing with this type requires being gentle and patient. No force is to be used unless absolutely necessary!" Iruka sighed and walked over to me. He put his hand on my shoulder and smiled.

"Look Sakura, as I've told you before, he is dangerous…very dangerous. Now I know you said he cooperated with you normally, hell he even was kind enough to kill a bug for you. But that doesn't automatically place him on the normal list. He is in this hospital for a reason. I apologize that you had to see me do that to him." Iruka sighed and kneeled down. He pulled me into a tight embrace.

"When I heard you scream I thought he killed you. I was still upset from that." Iruka released me and I stepped back blushing.

"Don't think he isn't capable of physically and mentally doing that." I thought back to when Sasuke had me pinned against the wall.

_***My God if Iruka knew he did that to me...* **_Iruka stood up and lit a cigarette.

"Where's Naruto?" He looked down the hallway.

_***Where's Sasuke?* **_I thought. Then I remembered how Iruka held me a moment ago and blushed.

"Naruto went to put the ladder away and grab me another trash bag. But hey, uh, I'm sorry for shouting at you earlier. I should understand that sometimes these things may need to be done depending on the patient. I shouldn't have questioned your professionalism. You understand these patients as individuals much better than I do. And hell, you own this hospital for a reason!" Iruka smiled.

"You apologize a lot. It's fine! I completely understand where you were coming from. You go by the book! I like that. Oh, there he is! Hey Naruto could you help Sakura carry those bags out to the dumpsters when she's done sweeping?"

"Sure thing!" Naruto handed me the new trash bag and grabbed my full one. He threw it over his shoulder and started walking down the hallway with Iruka. I started to sweep the rest of the glass into the new trash bag.

"Oh! And guys! Hold off on the showers for a little while, forgot that the hot water heater has been acting up lately. I'll call maintenance and have them go to the basement to see what's up. I'll let you know when to start ok?" I nodded my head. Naruto and Iruka continued to walk down the hallway once more.


	4. Headache

Hello! Sorry I haven't been able to update sooner! Life unfortunately gets in the way. -_- Hope you enjoy Chapter 4! Sorry I know, beginnings of stories can draaggg. And trust me, I am DYING to write about Sasuke! I just can't yet! XD Thanks for all of your sweet reviews!

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Chapter 4: Headache

I finished sweeping the glass and tied up the trash bag. When I went to throw it over my shoulder I was stopped by a gentle grab to my wrist. I looked up to see those captivating blue eyes again and blushed.

"I've got it Sakura." Naruto grabbed the bag and turned to walk down the hallway.

"O-Oh, thanks Naruto!" He just kept walking.

_***Sheesh what's his problem?***_

Naruto turns the corner and I realized I was alone in this hallway again. My curiosity struck and I looked over into Sasuke's now well-lit, no…_empty_ room. I swallowed my spit and walked inside. The bed was neatly made and the room was very clean. There was actually nothing out of the ordinary to my surprise.

_***For someone so 'dangerous' I expected some damage to be done in here.***_

I looked over at his bed again.

"I wonder…" I walked over to his bed and sat down. Slowly I lifted my legs over and lay down. I rested my hands on my stomach and looked up at the ceiling.

_***This must be what it's like through the patient's eyes almost all the time.***_ I frowned at the thought. Then I roll over on my side and stare at the wall. My heart skipped a beat. That was the wall where Sasuke and I first made contact. I remembered those red eyes. How just for a second the rage subsided in them when he saw my tears. I adjusted my head and blinked twice; I smelt something. I moved my head once more and smelt it again. I lifted my head and looked down at Sasuke's pillow. Then I buried my face into it and inhaled deeply. I took a piece of his blanket and smell that same scent on it too. I blushed once I realized what I was doing and jumped off of his bed to my feet.

_***I must've looked crazy doing that!***_ with that thought I immediately looked out the hallway to see Naruto staring at me. He was slightly blushing. My face turned completely red.

"N-NARUTO! U-Uh it's not what you think! I was just trying to imagine what it's like through the patient's eyes in their rooms, you know?" Naruto walked in and sat down on Sasuke's bed.

"And the whole sniffing thing?" He laughed a little. The smile quickly left his face and he looked down at the floor. I nervously sat down next to him trying to stop myself from blushing.

"Don't be embarrassed Sakura…I can't say I haven't done the same thing." Naruto leaned back with his eyes closed and put his hand on his forehead so his hair was laced through his fingers.

"I-I don't know what came over me. Goodness you must be as crazy as I am." I laughed a little. Naruto looked at me and I returned his stare.

"…what?"

"You care about him don't you?"

"About who Naruto?"

"Sasuke…" My heart skipped a beat.

"Naruto you're crazy I don't even _know_ him! He's just one of our patients!"

"But you want to." I immediately stopped waving my arms around blushed.

"Listen Sakura, **don't. **Don't try to love someone _here_. It will drive you fucking insane." I gasped at his comment. His voice was so low and serious. Not the normal happy voice I was used to. I could tell he needed to vent. Images of him handling Hinata flashed back to my memory.

_***Now I get it.***_ I thought. Naruto sighed and grabbed the back of his head.

"What's wrong?"

"Ah, nothing. Just this damn headache I've had on and off for months now." He was squeezing his eyes shut in pain at this point.

"M-Maybe you should get that checked out." Naruto shook his head back and forth.

"No…no it's fine. It usually stops as soon as it starts." Naruto opened his eyes and smiled at me. A silence goes by. Both of us were both lost in our own thoughts. I remembered the images of Iruka taking away Sasuke. I knew now would by my only chance to gather some kind of information.

"H-Hey Naruto…what do you know about Sasuke?" Naruto just looked up at me and shrugged his shoulders.

"He is always nice to me, and typically only to me. I never understood why. But as to your question, I don't know anything. Sometimes I feel like I've known him before though. Like I have a connection with him, you know? Some days it's stronger than others."

"Naruto that's not normal. What do you mean you feel like you've known him before?" Naruto immediately grabbed the back of his head again and squeezed his eyes shut. I had saw a shadow and looked up to see Iruka standing in the doorway. He was holding his hand out with the palm facing up. Once he noticed my staring he immediately lowered his hand.

"There you guys are!" He quickly put his hands in his pockets and walked in smiling. Naruto lowered his hand and shook his head back and forth.

"You ok Naruto?" Iruka asked. Naruto stood up and held his stomach.

"Ugh, my stomach is feeling a little queasy."

"Yeah Naruto, you don't look so good…" I stood up and put my arm around his shoulder. His face was pale white. Iruka stepped in and took my place.

"It's ok Sakura, I've got him. Come on Naruto, why don't you lay down in my office for a little while?" Naruto nodded his head and Iruka walked out of Sasuke's room with him. I followed behind. Naruto was stumbling.

"By the way Sakura, thank you for cleaning up the glass. You did a great job."

"You're welcome Iruka."

"Oh and hey, do you think you could start the showers for Naruto?"

"Of cour- hey wait…what about the hot water heater?" Iruka stopped walking for a moment.

"O-Oh right, maintenance took care of it…all fixed!" Iruka was looking back at me smiling.

"What was wrong with it?" He started walking again and waved his hand in the air.

"Oh you know…something was wrong with the pipe or whatever." Iruka turned the corner with Naruto. I glared at him.

_***Way to blow me off.* **_I reached into my pocket and grabbed my remote. Then I walked to the steel door entrance. I took a deep breath and turned to face Room #1. Next to it was a clipboard hanging off of a hook on the wall. Here we recorded everything we've done for each patient. My task was to record their shower times.

"Room 1: Kiba Inuzuka." I pressed 01 then the large red button on my remote and the glass wall lifted. I was feeling very confident. A young man with messy brown hair turns and sits on his feet and hands, almost canine like. He began sniffing the air. He had sharp black eyes with vertical slit-like pupils. His cheeks had distinctive red fang markings. They didn't look like paint though, no, they couldn't be. Patients here couldn't play with something potentially toxic like that. They almost looked permanent like tattoos.

"Hi Kiba, my name is Sakura Haruno, I am the new nurse." I smiled and waved. He sneered back. I noticed very pronounced canine teeth and was taken back a bit.

"I could smell you from day one. Where's Naruto?"

"He isn't feeling well, so he is lying down in Iruka's office. Ready for your shower?" Kiba blushed and jumped to his feet off of his bed.

"You mean YOU'RE going to give the showers?" Kiba swallowed his spit and blushed. I had seen his eyes shift up and down my body. I raised my hand.

"Don't you even with me dog boy! Get your mind out of the gutter! Now GO!" I pointed towards the hallway and Kiba yipped.

"Yes Ma'am." He slowly walked into the hallway and led the way to the showers.

_***CHA, THAT'S RIGHT SAKURA!* **_I was proud of my control over this patient. I had a knack for figuring people out rather easily. And since he acted strangely doglike, then commanding him like one wouldn't hurt? Kiba opens the shower door and steps back to let me walk in first. Once I heard him close the door I turned around. He jumped back and blushed.

"It's okay…may I?" Kiba just rubbed the back of his head and I began to lift his shirt. He cooperated and let me completely undress him. His physical condition was excellent. I started up one of the showers and let it warm up. Then I took Kiba's hand and put it under the water.

"Is this fine?" Kiba nodded and stepped under. I squirted some 2 in 1 shampoo and conditioner into his hands and he began lathering his hair. I grabbed a shower sponge and soaped it up. After he was finished rinsing his hair I handed him the sponge and he started cleaning his body.

"I know I should be doing this with my own hands but for your comfort I think you can handle this on your own. You're not giving me any red flags." I winked and he smiled.

"Yeah Naruto is the same way. Ah, you smell that? It smells fucking awful in here!" Kiba held his nose and looked around the shower room.

"Like what?"

"I don't know…like metal or something. Maybe copper?"

"Could it be these old pipes?" Kiba kept looking around.

"No, it's not that…" Kiba finally released his nose. I shrugged my shoulders.

"So Kiba…how was your day?" Kiba stopped washing himself and just stared at me. A miserable look fell on his face.

"I really miss my dog." He sounded almost childlike when saying this. I raised my eyebrow.

"Okay…well what was your dog's name?" Kiba sighed.

"Akamaru…" Kiba broke his stare leaned his forehead against the wall. He closed his eyes. He looked furious.

"My mother gave him to me when I was a child. He was my best friend!" Kiba punched the wall.

"Whoa Kiba settle down! Look, pets will come and go. You have to except that Akamaru has passed away and to cherish the memories you had with him." Kiba showed his teeth and punched the wall again.

"He's not dead…" He barely whispered.

"I was the only one who could understand him Sakura. I could _talk_ to him."

"Kiba, you can't talk to animals." I said. Kiba then grabbed the back of his head and squeezed his eyes shut. I turned off the water and wrapped a towel around him.

_***Wow he's real messed up, no wonder he is in here.* **_

"UGH AND I'M SO FUCKING TIRED OF THESE DAMN HEADACHES!" He was gripping his hair between his fingers. I used the towel to dry his body off and handed him a pair of pajamas. He irritably puts them on and he led us back to his room.

"Sit." Kiba sat down on his bed and I sat behind him. I used the towel and rubbed his head with it to dry his hair. Then I took out a comb from my pocket and gently brushed his hair. Goosebumps rose from his skin. I could sense his anger and grief subsiding.

_***Something traumatic must've happened to him to where he can only cling to childhood memories.* **_I sighed and stood up. I looked down at Kiba. His eyes were closed.

"Does your head feel better?" He opened one eye and glared at me.

"I'm sorry, I would for longer but I've got to finish the other showers. Do you need anything before I leave?" Kiba lied down with his hands behind his head and growled a little as he shook his head no. I stepped out of his room and closed the door with my remote. I grabbed the clip board and recorded his shower time.

"Who's next…Room #6: Hinata Hyuga." My heart skipped a beat.

_***Should I wait to let Naruto get this one…?* **_I remembered how Naruto told me not to love anyone here. When he said that I knew he was referring to himself loving Hinata. I sighed and walked to her room. When I opened it she turned around with a smile on her face. It immediately dropped when she saw me.

"O-Oh…hello." Her voice was so faint.

"Hi Hinata, my name is Sakura. I am the new nurse." I reached my hand out and she took it.

"Don't worry; Naruto is just resting in Iruka's office. He had a bad headache earlier. Do you mind if I take care of your shower today? Or would you like me to wait?" I stepped out of her room to hang the clipboard up on the hook outside of it.

"N-No, it's fine." She walked next to me slowly while staring down at the floor. When we made it to the shower room she undressed herself and started the shower.

"Here you go." I handed her the 2 in 1 shampoo and conditioner.

"Thank you. You said your name was Sakura right?" I nodded and she smiled.

"Naruto has been so busy, a new nurse will be a good help for him. Plus it's much easier for me to be doing this in front of another girl than him." She blushed.

"So how was your day Hinata?" She finished washing out her hair and lathered up the soap sponge.

"I've been having a lot of bad dreams lately." She looked down almost as if she were in pain.

"What ab-"

"I CAN'T TALK ABOUT IT." She covered her face with her hands. I put my hand on her back and she looked up at me. Tears were rolling down her face.

"Is it about what happened to you?" She looked up at me in shock.

"I-I'm sorry Hinata, as a nurse I must know about my patients and their backgrounds as best as possible. Iruka told me about it." She looked down at the floor. I wrapped my arms around her and she jumped.

"Don't let those nightmares keep you up at night. It's over now, and it won't happen again. And I know this because Naruto won't allow it." I laughed a little and she blushed.

"Thank you Sakura." Hinata turned off the shower and I handed her a towel. She wrapped it around herself.

"H-Hinata…" She looked at me. Her gentle face and empty eyes had taken be back. Imagining her in that scenario made my heart skip a beat.

"Yes?" I shook my head back and forth.

"Uh Hinata, forgive me, and please…don't answer if you're in the least bit uncomfortable. But could you explain to me something. See Iruka informed me of your unspeakable story and said something like 'she would never harm herself or anyone unless needed'. It just made me wonder…what exactly happened _after_." Hinata gripped her towel and looked down at the floor.

"Well I…I killed them." She cringed at the memory

_***It was more than one man!?* **_My pupils constricted.

"Y-You killed _them_ by yourself!?"

"Once I finally broke free my adrenaline took over. I'm sure that you've learned that these patients all possess a special gift, including myself. I possess something called 'Byakugan'. It is a genetic eye technique that naturally occurs in the members of my cl- AH." Hinata grabbed the back of her head.

"What's wrong?"

"It's just my head. I get headaches a lot." I ran over and pulled her hand down.

"Well it's not normal just to have it in once local spot. Here let me see." I walked behind her. Went I went to part her hair the shower door flung open and Iruka walked inside with Naruto.

"Ah there you are Sakura!" I lowered my hands.

"N-Naruto." Hinata barely said. He grabbed a pair of pajamas and handed them to her. I walked over to Iruka.

"Hey so I assume Naruto is feeling better?"

"Yeah, just a migraine. How's about Naruto finishes the showers?"

"What? No! I've only done 2; I have 8 more to go!" Iruka laughed and put his hand on my shoulder.

"So eager…look this was your first time, 2 is enough for today."

"But I want…no I NEED to get to know my patients!"

"Sakura, you will have plenty of time for that."

"Can I at least do the same 2 patients again tomorrow? I want them to become familiar with me.

"Of course Sakura."

"Thanks." I said sarcastically. Then I walked over to Naruto and Hinata.

"Well it was a pleasure meeting you Hinata!" She nodded in agreement.

"Would you mind if we did this again tomorrow? I want you to tell me more about your 'Byakugan'. Did I pronounce that right?" Hinata and Naruto looked at each other and then back at me in confusion.

"M-My what…?" I raised my eyebrow.

"Hinata, it was what you were just telling me about." Iruka walked over and lit a cigarette.

"Alright guys that's enough talking. We are already behind schedule so let's keep the showers moving." Naruto walked with Hinata to take her to her room and Iruka followed behind.

_***What was that all about? She must have some short term memory issues due to her disturbing incident. I wonder if they hit her over the head with something…she did grab the back of it earlier.* **_I became lost deep in my own thoughts trying to rationalize what just happened. My spell was broken by Iruka snapping his fingers in my face.

"Sakura! You coming?" I looked up at him. He began walking and I walked along side of him.

"Uh yeah…sorry. That was weird wasn't it?"

"What was?"

"Well that patient Hinata was telling me about some 'gift' she had. And when I mentioned it to her moments later she looked at me as if I had 2 heads! It makes me wonder if during her incident she experienced some sort of head trauma which is now causing her to have some short term memory loss. I should document it!" Iruka raised his eyebrow.

"Sakura, you're over thinking it." He breathed hard.

"Patients who suffer horrific experiences like that make up weird shit all the time because they are mentally fucked." I just stared at him, and then nodded my head in agreement.

_***But I really don't think she was **__**lying**__** to me…ugh I don't know.* **_I watched the tiles on the floor pass by as I wandered deeper into my thoughts.


	5. Skin

Thank you guys for all of your continuously supportive reviews. I love waking up to them in the mornings lol.

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Chapter 5: Skin

THE NEXT EVENING

I was in the shower room at work. I couldn't move anything but my eyes. I looked down to see I was tied to a chair. Suddenly all of the showers turned on. The room filled up with steam. Kiba was standing there with a small white dog on his head. He had a hooded jacket on.

"Ah, do you smell that Akamaru?" Kiba was cupping his mouth and nose. Akamaru whimpered almost as if it were a response to Kiba's question and put his paws over his nose. I inhaled and could smell a metallic scent. My body felt like it was on fire. I looked down to see my skin was slowly burning off. My adrenaline spiked and I somehow jumped out of the chair. When I did the pain stopped immediately. I turned around to look at the chair and when I did my pupils constricted. I saw a naked Sasuke tied to it. His flesh was slowly melting away from the boiling water. Suddenly a giant Iruka rose from the ground. He had his hand out with the palm facing up. He was holding the top of his arm with a wicked smile on his face.

"YOU'RE OVERTHINKING IT SAKURA." His voice was very low and echoed comically as a giant's would. He tried to step on me but I dodged it. I tried to turn off the water pouring on Sasuke but the knobs burnt my hands. When I tried to pull the chair from under the water my hands went right through Sasuke as if I were a ghost.

"Sasuke." I said, but nothing came out.

"SASUKE!" Again, nothing. Then I tried to scream. When I did it sounded like ringing.

_***Why do my screams sound like that.* **_I held my throat and screamed again, another ring.

_***Wait, that sounds like my ph-* **_Once I realized I was dreaming my body jerked and I immediately opened my eyes. My house phone rang again and I clumsily answered it.

"Ugh…hello?" I looked over at my alarm to see that it was only 3:30pm. I reached over to untangle the phone cord.

"Hi Sakura?"

"Speaking."

"Hi my name is Asuma Sarutobi; I am the supervisor of the morning shift of your sector." I grunted and rubbed my face.

"Eh, hello."

"I apologize for waking you up, but I have a favor to ask. Do you think you could come into work early? There is a crisis situation here so I am a bit short staffed."

_***It would be nice if I could have my other 2 hours of sleep!* **_I breathed hard.

"Sure thing, be in soon."

"Thank you Sakura!" I hung up the phone and lazily got out of bed. I skipped my shower and headed straight to work. I wanted to be there as soon as possible to make a good impression. When I got to my sector I seen tons of nurses everywhere. Four were pushing a bed. On it was somebody completely wrapped in bandages from head to toe. A man with a cigarette in his mouth walked up to me. He had black side burns that connected to his beard.

"Wow that was fast." He looked down at his watch.

"Well it felt fast." He tapped his watch with his finger and grunted.

"Damn thing never works here."

"It's 4:00pm sir." Asuma reached his hand out. I took it, he had a firm grip.

"Just call me Asuma. Thanks again for getting here so quickly Sakura, you can see we are pretty busy."

"Yeah I noticed…are there nurses from other sectors here?"

"Definitely. I found one of our patients in solitary confinement. He fucked himself up real bad. We needed more help here."

"Who was it!?"

"Uh…" He grabbed the clipboard off of the wall and flipped through the papers.

"It was…Sasuke Uchiha." My heart skipped a beat.

"Was he the one wrapped in bandages!?" Asuma looked up from the clipboard and gave me a strange look.

"Yes that was him…" He hung the clipboard back onto the wall.

"Oh uh, I apologize for my outburst. W-What exactly did he do?"

"Well I'm not sure if you are familiar with everyone yet or not but most of these patients possess special gifts. Sasuke can wield fire. We are assuming that he did this to himself out of pure insanity. This isn't the first time he's self-inflicted wounds." Images of his flesh melting off from my dream take over.

_***There's no way they are connected…there is just no way. It was just a stupid dream!***_ I shook my head back and forth. I hear the steel doors open behind me. When I turned around I see Iruka. He walks in and Asuma waves.

"Got my message?"

"Yeah sorry I didn't come sooner. Got a smoke?" Asuma pulled one out from his pack and gave it to Iruka. He took a puff and looked down at me.

"Sakura? What are you doing here?"

"Oh, I called her in to help with the dinners this evening since my morning shift will be preoccupied with this shit."

"You try Naruto?"

"You already know I tried calling him first. That boy never wakes up." Asuma put his hand on his forehead and Iruka laughed. Then he put his hand on my shoulder.

"That's alright Asuma, Sakura here can handle it." He shook me back and forth a little. I smiled. Asuma nodded and walked away to help the nurses. They all went down _his_ hallway.

"Is he going to recover in his room!?" Iruka looked down.

"Yeah, he has to. See what I told you? He is dangerous. He could've easily done that to one of us. That's why I put him in solitary confinement yesterday. Straight jacket and everything."

"Oh so that's where you took him."

"Why wouldn't of I? I saw that mark on your neck. I know he did that to you." I gasped and looked away from him.

"Why did you lie to me Sakura?" I jumped and rubbed the back of my head.

"Well I uh…I've got nothing." Iruka kneeled down and pulled me into a tight embrace. I blushed.

"I'm sorry Iruka…I just…" He held me tighter.

"You don't have to say it. I understand." Iruka released me and stood up. A large group of nurses came out of Sasuke's hallway and walked passed us.

"Thanks again guys!" Asuma was walking behind them and stopped in front of Iruka. He just stared at him. Iruka breathed hard.

"You don't even have to ask. But you owe me a pack of smokes for it."

"Ah, thanks Iruka. I'll go clock out." Asuma started to jog backwards. He pulled his pack of cigarettes out of his pocket and threw it to Iruka.

"I meant a whole pack!" Asuma laughed and jogged to the main office. Iruka leaned back on his hands and cracked his back.

"Ugh I'm such a nice guy." I laughed. A few moments later Asuma returned and patted Iruka's back as he was jogged by.

"Thanks again!"

"Yeah, yeah, must be nice leaving almost 3 hours early." After Asuma left the steel doors closed.

"So it's just me and you until knucklehead arrives. Morning shift usually serves dinners around 6:00pm. And it's about 4:30 now so feel free to nap in my office if you'd like. I know that's why I'm going to do." Iruka yawned and started to walk forward.

"Do you mind if I start early?" He waved his hand back at me, shortly after I heard his office door close. I looked to my right to see Kiba siting on his bed. He was cupping his nose and mouth with his hands. His eyes were watering.

_***Must be because of Sasuke.* **_I could only imagine with his keen sense of smell that the scent must be unbearable. I shuddered at the thought of the smell of burnt flesh. I started to walk towards the kitchen to prepare the meals. I forced myself to walk passed _his_ hallway. I had to force my eyes shut so I wouldn't allow myself to look. But I didn't even have to think about if I was going to go down there or not. My subconscious already had that planned for me. When I made it to the kitchen I grabbed a steel rack with wheels. This allowed me to stack up to 20 meals at a time. I thought back to when I first came into this sector, Iruka said it could house 100 people.

_***Sheesh, I'm glad I only have 10 to prepare meals for! But that's my question…why only 10? Must be because of the severity of this age group. I assume only a mere handful in the world are this messed up. I also assume that only a mere handful could possess such special gifts.* **_I thought back to when Hinata started to tell me about her Byakugan. I knew those entrancing empty eyes had more behind them.

_***Maybe she'll remember more about it today.***_ Then I thought back to Kiba mentioning how he could talk to his dog. Images of that little white dog sitting on his head from my dream flash to my attention.

_***Wait…was that his dog…?***_ I shook my head back and forth and shrugged it off.

_***I'll ask him what it looked like later.* **_I reached into the fridge and grabbed the sandwiches morning shift pre-made for dinners. Then I grabbed 2 large pots; one was full of gravy and the other was mashed potatoes. It actually looked appetizing. I placed a sandwich and a generous scoop of mashed potatoes onto each tray and poured gravy over everything. We had a large microwave which allowed me to heat up 2 trays at a time. Once I was all done I loaded them onto the cart and left the kitchen. I walked down the hallway to Kiba's room since his was #1. I used my remote to open the door. Kiba was sitting on his bed with his back facing me. He sniffed the air.

"Sakura?" He quickly turned around in surprise. He looked happy to see me.

"What are you doing here?"

"Hey Kiba. Asuma called me and asked if I could come in early." I handed him his tray of food and a plastic fork. Normally the hospital does not allow use of any utensils with the patients, because even a plastic fork could be lethal. But with meals like this it was allowed occasionally.

"OH I LOVE HOT BEEF! We never get this stuff!" He began scarfing down his food without even using the plastic fork I provided. I could almost see his non-existent tail wagging in joy. In a matter of seconds the tray was completely licked clean and he handed it back to me. I gave Kiba a strange look and took the tray away slowly in a comical matter.

"Oh, by the way Kiba, I had a dream last night." Kiba turned his head like a dog would if someone were to make a peculiar noise.

"Now this may be far-fetched but I think I dreamt about Akamaru last night! Was he white?" Kiba just stared at me, a long silence went by.

"…who?" The silence was finally broken.

"A-ka-mar-u…your dog. Remember…? The dog you told me your mother gave to you when you were little." Kiba continued to stare.

"Seriously!? You don't remember talking about that yesterday?" Kiba shook his head 'no'. I just breathed hard.

"N-Never mind. Forget I asked…" Disappointment was in my voice. I couldn't wait to share that news with him. I thought maybe it would cheer him up; but more importantly, to determine if my dream was accurate. I wheeled the tray of meals out and closed Kiba's room. I grabbed the clipboard and recorded the meal times and what he ate. Then I started to walk towards Hinata's room.

_***How could he of just forgotten like that?***_ my mind wouldn't let me think of anything else. I made it to Hinata's room. When I opened the door she turned around and smiled.

"Hi Sakura."

"Not surprised to see me? I'm early! And feeding you dinner… that's morning shift's job." Hinata looked down sadly.

"Oh I…I never know what time it is anymore." I knew what she meant by that. Patients here couldn't possess even a small wrist watch.

"So what was up with yesterday when I asked you about your Byakugan?" I said this while handing Hinata her tray. She picked at the food with her fork for a while, and then began to eat it in very small portions.

"Yeah, what _was_ up with that?" Hinata put down her fork and looked up at me.

"Why do you ask me about this 'Byakugan'?"

"Well I wanted to know more about it! You started to tell me about it yesterday but then we got cut off."

"I…I did?"

"Well yeah! And when I brought it back up to you moments later you acted like I had 2 heads!"

"Because I just don't know what you're talking about." My heart skipped a beat, my pupils constricted. Hinata just shrugged her shoulders and looked down at her tray to break the stare. I could sense she felt very awkward…like I was the crazy one for asking about something she didn't know about, twice.

"O-Oh…sorry. I'll be back for the tray soon." I quickly wheeled the meals out into the hallway and shut her room.

_***What I feared the most came true. Something isn't right here.***_ for the moment I blew it off. I had to finish serving these meals without being distracted by the thought. Next on my clipboard was "Ino Yamanaka". When I made it to her room my heart skipped I beat. She was peacefully sleeping, but **she** was the girl that Iruka had to inject. **She** was the one who did that to the entrance's steel doors. Her fingers were still wrapped in bandages. I opened her room and quietly stepped inside. I put my hand on her shoulder and shook her gently. She opened up her stunning light blue eyes and blinked at me twice. I could tell by the look on her face she was questioning who I was. Slowly she sat up and stretched her arms. Her long blond hair wrapped around her body.

"Ah, who are you?" I was startled by the strength in her voice; nothing like Hinata's.

"Hi Ino, my name is Sakura. I am the new nurse." She stood up and took the tray and fork out of my hand. I could sense a strong confident woman was standing before me. She smirked at me.

"Well good, that annoying Naruto HAD to go. Sheesh!" She turned around to sit on her bed hitting my face with her hair.

"Naruto isn't gone, I am just a second hire to help with the night shift." Ino ignored me and ate her meal. A silence went by as I watched her eat. She seemed to have a permanently irritated look on her face.

"So…Ino…"

"What!?" She had a mouth full of food. I gave her an angry look and she returned it right back.

"Why the crazy escape attempts? I saw the blood…your blood you left on the entrance doors. I saw the dents too. Why…?" Ino slammed her fist on her tray and stood up. The remainder of her meal fell onto the floor.

"BECAUSE THIS PLACE IS FUCKED UP…it's not what you think it is Sakura…it's…it's…AH." Ino grabbed her head. Long pieces of her hair were laced through her bandaged fingers. Her entire body was shaking. An evil look fell upon her face.

"No…not this time. I won't lose…control!" She was still holding her head in pain. It seemed as if she were internally fighting _something_. The way her body was trembling had me in awe. The change in the tone of her voice, it sounded so determined. One of her hands redirected to the back of her head.

"Ino! Do you have a headache!?" She looked up at me as if I were stupid at first. Then she _really_ looked at me and realized that I've seen this before.

"Exactly…" she said. Then with all her strength she lifted her hands. Her fingers formed into the shape of a circle. Her eyes were focused on the badge hanging from my neck.

"You…you're my ticket out of here. NINJA ART…MIND TRANSFER JU-" In a matter of seconds I felt someone run past me. Before I could even react I see Iruka standing behind Ino. He pulled her hands down behind her back with one hand. With the other he injected a needle into her neck. She collapsed to the floor.

"Iruka!" He walked over to me and flicked my forehead.

"Is that you in there Sakura?" I angrily grabbed my forehead.

"OF COURSE IT'S ME! WHAT WAS THAT FOR?"

"Oh good I wasn't too late." Iruka said this comically in relief.

"Too late for what?" I closed my eyes and remembered her words. I inhaled in realization.

"You mean…?"

"That's a hell of a gift isn't it?" Iruka put his hand on my back and walked me out of Ino's room. Iruka used his remote to close it.

"AH, I GOT THE MESSAGES. SORRY I'M LATE!" Startled from the unexpected arrival of Naruto I threw my hand behind me and accidently hit him in the face. Naruto comically fell onto his back. The middle of his face was caved in with a large red mark on it.

"DON'T SNEAK UP ON ME LIKE THAT YOU IDIOT!" Naruto rolled back then jumped onto his feet with ease. He rested one of his hands on my shoulder and the other on his knee as he tried to catch his breath.

"S-Sorry Sakura…did you have to come in because of me?" Iruka stepped forward and crossed his arms.

"Yes, the newbie did."

"Ah man, I'm so sorry. I woke up around 5:00pm to take a leak and when I came back I seen that I had 3 messages. Where's Asuma?"

"I let him leave early." Naruto stopped leaning on me and stood up normally. He looked at Iruka with a confused face.

"Did he tell you what happened?"

"Something about Sasuke…? He just told me I needed to come in early to help out."

"Yeah he messed himself up bad this time Naruto." Naruto looked away from Iruka down at the floor. He seemed upset.

"Well how is this going to work now?" Iruka and Naruto both looked over at me.

"I mean, I understand the medical care of such severe burns. But who do you want to do this, me or Naruto?"

_***Please say me, please say me.* **_

"Uh…" Iruka rubbed the back of his head.

"Well, not to toot my own horn, but I have a knack with this stuff. I'd be glad to take on the duty. The art of healing and after care is my specialty." Iruka looked over at Naruto. They both shrugged their shoulders and looked back at me.

"Great. So I am assuming the nurses from earlier have already started him on intravenous fluids. Occlusive bandage changes combined with antibacterial agents should be reapplied as often as every 8 hours to prevent bacterial growth."

"Right on the money sweetheart. Not to mention the fun part…removal of the necrotic tissues should be done within 24-48 hours after the burn occurred. The first portion will be done surgically by a doctor, probably tomorrow morning. After that, it's up to the nurses to keep at it." Naruto stood there rubbing the back of his head in confusion.

"Okay, what?"

"Naruto its fine, Sakura knows what she is doing. Let her handle the bandage changes and dead skin removal during your shift." Naruto sighed comically in relief. He looked at us as if we were speaking another language.

"I just wish we could transfer him to another hospital with an ICU for this.

"Sakura, this entire hospital IS an intensive care unit. We've got the best staff around, don't worry. Nurses from other units with more experience will do most of the critical care. Your job is to handle the bandage changes and skin removal at night." I nodded my head in determination. I looked over at Naruto and seen him staring at my cart with the meals on it.

"Whoa did you start dinners already Sakura?"

"Yeah Iruka said it was fine…had a little fun with the one behind me though." Naruto leaned to his right and looked over my shoulder to see a collapsed Ino on the floor.

"Sheesh she needed to be injected again?" Iruka nodded his head in annoyance.

"Yep. Hey Sakura, how's about you let Naruto finish serving the rest?"

"Uh yeah, sure, no problem." Iruka could hear in my voice that this was not what I really wanted. Of course I was disappointed that I couldn't meet anymore of the patients. But what almost happened with Ino was too close. I knew arguing back with him would be inappropriate on my part. Iruka patted my head as if I were a disappointed child and turned to walk towards his office. I opened up Ino's room and went in there and placed her on the bed. Then I began to clean up her unfinished meal on the floor. I heard Naruto wheel the food cart to the next patient's room. Images of Sasuke from my dream flashed to my attention. I quickly looked down at my watch. It wasn't working as usual when I am here. Why did I even look at it? Second nature.

"Hey Naruto! What time did you get here!?" I heard him stop fiddling with the food tray.

"What!?"

"Do you remember what time it was when you got here!?"

"Uh I don't know, almost 6:00pm!?"

"Ok, thanks!"

_***That means I should be changing Sasuke's bandages in about five hours.* **_I swallowed my spit and my heart began beat rapidly. I knew the next five hours until then would be like torture.


	6. Freedom

Is it weird that I get really nervous when I post a chapter?

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Chapter 6: Freedom

"Iruka what time is it!?" Comically the papers he was focused on all flew into the air and he nearly fell out of his chair. Eyes wide he slowly turned his head to look at me.

"For – the– last– time…STOP BURSTING INTO MY OFFICE LIKE THAT!" Iruka was waving his arms around with smoke coming out of his ears. Then he turned back to normal and rubbed his forehead. He breathed hard and looked over at the monitors on the wall.

"Oh thank fucking God it's 11:00pm. Now go." Iruka shooed me away with his hands and pushed me out of the door way.

"Not my fault no one's watch will work in here!" I stuck my tongue out at him and he slammed the door. I had been bursting into his office almost every hour to check the time. Those long 5 hours had finally passed. My patience, or well, sort-of patience finally paid off because that meant I could finally see _him_. My heart rate instantly increased well beyond its normal resting rate. I power walked down the hallway. As I desperately approached Sasuke's hallway I passed by Naruto. He was mopping the floor. When I walked by he gave me an amusingly weird look because I was walking so frantically. I knew I was.

"Sakura wait! Do you want me to come with –"

"NO." I comically said. Sorry but no, absolutely not Naruto…this was something I had to do by myself. I quickly turned the corner. Once I did I immediately stopped. I was finally staring at the end of his hallway. I took a deep breath and basically dragged my feet how slow I was walking. But no matter how calm I tried to be, my heart wouldn't stop pounding. My mind wouldn't let the image of his flawless face leave my eyes. I held my hand up in front of me just to see how badly I was shaking. All the classic symptoms, I was so nervous. My mystery boy whom I dreamt of so many times, the mystery boy who made me weak to my knees, the one who took my breath away…I would finally be able to see again.

_***Sheesh why am I so nervous? C'mon Sakura!***_ I uneasily laughed and looked down at the floor. I counted the tiles as they passed by. Then I looked up and swallowed my spit once I realized I was only merely steps away from his room. I picked up my speed and pulled out my remote to open his room. There wasn't going to be any of me standing outside of his room and staring. I wanted to get in there immediately before my nerves changed my mind. Swiftly I turned the corner and stepped inside. When I did I gasped and dropped my remote onto the floor. My courageous burst of speed came to a dead stop. There lie Sasuke, completely wrapped head to toe in what were once white, dark yellow bandages. Did I forget what Asuma told me? He completely burnt himself from head to toe. Somehow that information left my mind within the last 5 hours of waiting to see him. Instead my thoughts were deferred from reality with the mental imagery of his perfection.

_***How could you let your mind go astray? This **__**patient**__** didn't exactly like you to begin with. Not to mention, he will never…look like that again.***_ My eyes began to water. I sniffled and shook my head back and forth before my angry inner self scolded me for my childish feelings some more. I took a deep breath and got into my nursing state of mind. I looked to my left to see a table full of already prepared bandages. On the second lower shelf was a box full of black trash bags. I pulled off a bag from the roll and shook it out. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. Then I turned around and walked over to Sasuke's bed sitting the bag down on the floor next to me. I leaned over and slowly began to undress his bandages, starting at his feet. Underneath was entirely burnt skin. It was a dark color with a mixture of black, purple, and maroon. His body was no longer covered in the lovely pale skin I was first introduced to. I couldn't help but to sob harder and harder as I made my way further up his body.

"Sasuke…" Is all I could keep saying through my tears in absolute pity as I kept unwrapping his body further and further. I stopped once I reached the top of his neck. I knew unveiling his face would be next. Something I wasn't sure I would be able to handle. I swallowed my spit and my fingers twitched.

"Just do it Sakura." I jumped and turned around to see Naruto standing in the doorway. He was looking at me with watery eyes. His fragile image threw me over the edge.

"Oh Naruto!" I ran over to him and buried my face into his chest gripping his shirt with my fists. Surprised by my outburst he took two steps back to keep his balance when I threw myself into him. He looked down at me sadly and put his hand on my back. Minutes go by as I continued to scream into his chest in tears. He just stood there firmly. I could feel how tense his body was slowly becoming. Somehow my running to him for condolence fueled this. He was pissed…

"N-Naruto?" I looked up into his eyes. Those gentle and captivating blue eyes that were once filled with tears moments ago were now filled with pure rage, and nothing else. His eyes were an orange-red color. It was like I wasn't even there as he furiously stared at what once was Sasuke.

"You know more about this medical shit than I do…he's never going to come back is he…" His voice…I mean…his voice. That's all I could think. It didn't feel like Naruto was even the one speaking anymore, but someone, or _something_ else. It made my heart skip a beat. Such raw power in that voice. The animalistic growl behind that enraged voice. I was breathless. I looked away from his eyes and laid the side of my face against the chest. He needed to calm down and I knew it.

"What do you mean, he's right behind us." A stupid question, because I knew what he meant all along.

"HE'S NEVER GOING TO LOOK THE WAY HE DID BEFORE IS HE!?" I squeezed my eyes shut in fear.

"WELL!?" I felt a sharp burning pain in my back. Once a hand placed there for my comfort were now nails ripping through my clothes and into my skin. I winced in pain as tears fell from my eyes. I felt my warm blood slowly travel down the curve of my spine.

"No."

"Then it's not worth him LIVING!" Naruto threw me aside and furiously marched towards Sasuke. I fell onto the floor and looked over at the bed. There was an orange energy angrily flowing around Naruto in a wild uneven motion.

"NARUTO NO! WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?" I stumbled over to him and grabbed his arms. He kept throwing me off of them with ease. My mind kept racing with thoughts on what I should do.

_***It's going to have to come down to **__**this**__**!***_ With no time to think it through I darted in front if Naruto and threw myself on top of Sasuke. I sat on the edge of the bed and leaned back holding my arms out to protect Sasuke. Naruto had his hand lifted into the air with a blue and orange ball of what almost seemed to be lightening surrounding it.

"Get out of the way Sakura! This needs to be done!" His voice cracked when he screamed this. I looked into his eyes and seen tears flowing from them.

"He's my friend! I can't let him live like this!" His voice cracked again.

"Friend…?" I couldn't believe what I just heard. I thought back to our conversation. How he said he felt like he had a connection with Sasuke. How he said Sasuke was very nice to him and he didn't know why. I finally understood. I came back to reality and kicked Naruto in his stomach as hard as I could. He flew back and slammed into the table with the prepared bandages on it. I jumped to my feet and Naruto looked up at me. The look in his eyes…the look of despondency, like he had been fighting a never ending battle. That split second where there was no rage in them quickly vanished and it resumed. I heard a door shut.

"Oh shit, that's Iruka! Naruto you NEED to calm down!"

"Not until I put him out if his misery!"

"Shhh Naruto please!" I ran over and kneeled down in front of him on the floor. He started to stand up but I grabbed his arm and pulled him back down.

"Let go of me…"

"No Naruto! Please, just CALM down!" He kept trying to stand up but I kept pulling on his arms.

_***Ugh this is no use! What do I do? How can I calm him down!?* **_Pulling at his arms was not enough anymore. He was pissed and was going to completely stand to his feet this time. So I crawled into his lap and pulled his head into my chest. I laid my head on top of his and laced his soft blonde hair between my fingers.

"Please Naruto, don't get up…just calm down. We can save Sasuke, but not like this. Give me time to figure something out!" I cried. He sat limp. I could feel his anger subsiding.

_***It's working!* **_I see Naruto's orange energy return to back within him. I put my hands on his cheeks and lean back to look into his eyes.

"N-Naruto? Naruto?" His eyes were closed. I shook his head back and forth. When I let go his chin fell into his chest.

"Ah great, you've got to be kidding me." I said comically. I heard Iruka's footsteps. I knew he was on his way to check on me. I jumped to my feet.

"Shit Naruto wake up!" I put my hands on his shoulders and shook him but only his head bobbled around amusingly.

"Ugh it's no use!" I frantically put my hands on my head so my hair was laced between my fingers.

"Damn it…think Sakura think!" I looked over at Sasuke and then at the floor under his bed.

"That's it!" I climbed behind Naruto and put my arms under his and dragged him towards the bed. Then I laid him flat on the floor and pulled his feet under the bed as far as I could. Comically I used my feet to push, or more so, kick his upper half completely under the bed. I could hear Iruka's footsteps coming closer and closer. I quickly jumped to my feet and began to put the old bandages from Sasuke into the black trash bag.

"Hey Sakura! How's it going?"

"Oh hey Iruka! I didn't even hear you leave your office. How are you!?" I made sure to keep my back faced away from him so he wouldn't see the marks.

"Uh…why are you so out of breath?"

"Me? Out of breath? Of course not! Don't be silly!"

"…okay?" Iruka walked in and leaned over the bed to look at Sasuke's skin.

"Whoa, he's pretty jacked up ain't he?"

"Yeah, he'll never look the same again. Makes me wish human euthanasia was legal." I said sadly. Iruka nodded his head in agreement and began to write some things down on his clip board. I heard Naruto start to snore and I secretly kicked him. Iruka looked up from his clipboard and I laughed nervously while smiling at him.

"Alright, well, I've gotten what I need for now. Just had to log out what was used on the medical inventory form. Holler if you need anything!" Iruka turned around and began to walk but then stopped at Sasuke's doorway.

"Oh by the way, have you seen Naruto?" I basically jumped out of my skin. I started to sweat a million little drops and my hair stood up comically.

"Uh, wasn't he mopping? Yeah last I seen him he was mopping! You know how he loves to mop!" Iruka laughed and looked back at me.

"Ah, he loves to mop, I'll take note of that. Well if you see him tell him to come to my office."

"Okay, bye now!" I waved and Iruka left Sasuke's room. I waited until I heard him close his office door before I could even breathe again.

"Oh thank God." I said leaning forward with my arms hanging down in relief. Quickly I kneeled down and pulled Naruto out from under the bed. I sat him up against it. Then I balled my fist and punched him in the head as hard as I could.

"WAKE UP YOU IDIOT!" Naruto snorted out of his sleep and grabbed the top of his head. There was a big red knot on it. I expected him to ask 'what was that for!?' Or something like that…but instead he just had a confused look in his face.

"Naruto…Naruto are you ok?" He slowly looked up at me with wide eyes.

"Sakura I…I remember _everything_." Then he slowly turned his head around almost dreadfully and looked at Sasuke. He didn't react as I thought he would, he actually didn't react at all. Instead he just stood up with the same bewildered expression on his face. He looked like a deer caught in head lights.

"Earth to Naruto! HELLO!?" I snapped my fingers in his face. Finally I got him to come out of whatever he was in. He shook his head back and forth.

"Ugh man Naruto finally! What the fuck just happened to you!?"

"Iruka he…I…I'm not under his jutsu anymore! I can feel it. Sakura check the back of my head! Down towards the bottom!" He turned around and pointed at the base of his skull. I leaned in and parted his hair.

"I don't see anything."

"Ah, I can't believe it! The seal is gone! I'm finally free!"

"Naruto what do you mean?"

"Sakura!"

"AH! WHAT?"

"Finish up with Sasuke, I'll be back ok."

"Hey no wait we need to talk about this! What did you mean when you said you weren't under Iruka's little spell or whatever anymore?" Naruto quickly ran over and covered my mouth.

"Sakura shhh, not now, we can't talk about this now." Naruto's voice was almost at a whisper. I took his hand from my mouth and held it in my hands.

"I've had my suspicions about many strange things here and I want to discuss them with you!"

"Shhh, I know, and we will! But I've got to go! Keep quiet and act like this never happened ok? See Iruka, he CAN'T know. He can't know that I am free from his control!" Naruto started to walk backwards.

"W-Wait, but where are you going? Iruka said he needed to talk to you. So get going to his office before you go anywhere else so he doesn't get suspicious!" I finished putting the old bandages into the bag and then walked over to the table that the new ones were on. I started to grab the bandages that fell onto the floor from when Naruto slammed onto it and put them in the bag.

"Oh my…Sakura…I…"

"Naruto its fine. I know they are new but they fell onto the floor so they are dirty. I'm not putting these on Sasuke it's too risky."

"No Sakura, your back."

_***He really does remember.***_ I immediately stopped putting the bandages into the bag and sat it on the floor. I stood straight up reached my hand around and felt the holes in the back of my uniform from where his nails tore into it. Then I turned around to face Naruto. The pain of it quickly returned. I had almost blocked it out from everything else going on.

"I can't believe I did that to you. Ah man Sakura I'm so sorry! When that happens to me it's hard to control my anger…t-to control my everything."

"Who was that person you became Naruto…? What was that?"

"Please forgive me but I will have to discuss all of that with you later in privacy. Here; take my scrub top so Iruka doesn't ask." I turned around and Naruto took off his shirt. He was wearing a plain white t-shirt under the scrub top that fit over his muscular body tightly. For a split second I thought of how good he looked in it. But what's a girl to do?

"No Naruto its fine. I have an extra outfit in the trunk of my car." I reached into my pocket and handed him my keys.

"Ok good, I'll run out and get it for you." Naruto jogged out of Sasuke's room. I finished grabbing the rest of the fallen bandages and put them in my trash bag. Then sat it to the side. I walked over to Sasuke's bed and look down at his face. That was the only part of his body that was still wrapped. Slowly I grabbed where I left off and finished completely uncovering him. His face looked nothing like his old one. It didn't look a face at all, it didn't look human. But the only thing that stayed the same was his eyes. His eye lids were almost swollen shut. But the little crack that was open, I could see those black orbs. They were staring directly into my eyes. I had to know if he was really in there.

"Sasuke, if you can hear me…or anything…then follow my finger." I lifted my index finger and did slow movements. He followed it the entire time perfectly. I didn't show it, but I was so eternally happy that he was still in there, still alive. He hadn't moved or even groaned since I had been in there. I started to wrap his body up again starting at his feet with the new bandages. Naruto came in with my outfit in his hands. He dropped it along with me keys onto the ground when he looked at Sasuke.

"You unwrapped his face…"

"Yeah, his eyes are the only thing that's weren't affected. I asked him to follow my finger and he did. So he can hear as well." Naruto immediately ran over to the bed and put his hands on both sides of Sasuke's torso so he was towering over top of him. Naruto was looking directly into his eyes, and Sasuke returned his stare.

"Sasuke…Sasuke it's me!" I could hear in his voice that he was crying. I stopped wrapping and looked over in surprise.

"I know what Iruka's been doing! The nine tails came out of me when I seen you like this and it broke right through his seal! He doesn't have control over me anymore. I know all the fucked up shit! I know that you were too strong and your Sharingan would've seen right through his jutsu. I'm so sorry he was able to get ahold of me. And I was too stupid to see it coming. But I'm going to get you out of this. I'm going to find a way to make you you again. I promise! You hear me Sasuke!?" Me and Naruto gasped when we saw Sasuke's eyes start to water. This made Naruto cry even harder.

_***Sasuke's crying…?***_

"I knew you could hear me! I'm going to get all of us out of this place, just you wait!" Naruto stood up and wiped his eyes. Then he ran out of Sasuke's room. I stood up and leaned over Sasuke. I used a cloth from my pocket to wipe his tears away.

"Just hold back Sasuke, hold them back. I know they burn." As I told him that I was crying myself. I went back down to his feet to finish bandaging him. When I was finished I made sure to leave a gap open for his eyes and mouth. Sasuke stared at me the whole time. I was quietly crying the entire time I dressed him with the bandages. I grabbed a syringe from the table and gently held Sasuke's IV line in my hand.

"Here Sasuke, this is a pain medication that may put you to sleep for a little while. I can only imagine the pain you are in…" I injected the clear liquid into his line and his eyes glazed over. He fell asleep shortly after. I made sure to give him a larger dose than normal.


	7. Sharingan

Okay so this chapter is really long, I KNOW, sorry XD. It consists of a lot of talking, but a lot of needed talking for the story lol. I hope you enjoy, thank you guys so much for the motivating reviews. :)

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Chapter 7: Sharingan

"Hey Sakura it's 7:10am, why don't you get out of here?"

"Oh sorry! I didn't realize it was after 7:00am. I was finishing up preparing the breakfasts for morning shift, just got to put them in the fridge now.

"Stop apologizing so much! I knew you were. Here I'll put the trays away, you head home and I'll clock you out."

"Okay Iruka, thank you." I walked out of the kitchen and headed towards the entrance.

_***It's so hard to act normal around Iruka!***_ As I was walking I stopped in front of Sasuke's hallway.

_***I should say goodbye to him. He has been all alone in there for hours.***_ I jogged to his room and used my remote to open it so I could just walk right in. When I got there I saw him look over at me. I kneeled down in front of his bed so I was eye level with him.

"Hi Sasuke, have the pain medications I gave you worn off?" He just continued to stare at me.

"I know communication is limited, but, maybe we can figure something out because I know you can hear me. If you're in pain then look away from me." He looked up at the ceiling and back at me. My heart dropped.

"Oh goodness Sasuke I'm so sorry. I gave you a large dose last time, that's why I didn't come sooner. Have you been in pain for very long? Well no you can't really tell me a specific amount of time. Okay, if you have been in pain for over an hour then look away from me." He just stared at me.

"Okay good so my calculations on timing were pretty spot on. I will give you some more, but not enough to put you to sleep. Although a larger than normal amount of sleep is recommended for you to help your immune system, I'm not going to because it's day time. I don't want to throw your body's time clock out of whack. I will make sure I do that for you tonight though. I would want to sleep through the entire healing process too if I were you." I gave him a weak smile. Then I stood up and walked over to the table to grab another syringe of the pain medication. I logged it onto the medical inventory form attached to a clip board on the table. Then I walked back over to Sasuke and grabbed his IV line and injected it into it. His eyes relaxed. I put the needle into the biohazard medical disposal bin on the table and kneeled back down in front of Sasuke. I stared into his eyes. I felt like he was looking into my soul. My heart was racing. He may have not looked like what he once was, but those dense eyes didn't change one bit. I sighed and looked down at my lap.

"I wish I could stay but I need to go home and get some sleep. I'll be back this evening at 7:00pm though ok?" I held back my tears with all my might and looked back up at Sasuke. When I did I gasped. His eyes were red. I leaned in closer and seen three small black orbs within them.

"Y-Your eyes…that's how they looked when I first met you. I wish you could tell me what they are for. I know the patients here have a special 'gift' as everyone calls it. Is that yours?" He looked up at the ceiling and back at me. I gasped.

"Yes? It is?" He looked away and back at me.

"That's amazing. If only I had a special gift. If I did I would, I don't know. I just wish I had the power to fix you…"

_***I can't do this!***_ Tears fell from my eyes and I quickly stood up to leave. When I turned away to leave I felt something grab my wrist. When I looked down at my wrist I see bandages. I inhaled in disbelief. I immediately looked up at Sasuke's face to see him staring at me so intensively with those red eyes.

"Sasuke you…you moved!" He released my wrist and painfully lowered his arm.

"Sasuke I don't understand. Was it something I said?" He looked away and back.

"So, yes?" He looked away and back once more.

"Damn it Sasuke. Uh, well was it from what I LAST said?" He looked away and back at me.

"Hmm…" I put my hand on my chin and thought about it.

"I said how your eyes were amazing. And then I said if I had a gift then it would be to fix you…but what does that have to do with anything?" Sasuke grabbed my wrist again and looked up at the ceiling and back at me. I returned his stare in confusion. Then his eyes turned back to their normal color.

"Hello?" I jumped and looked over at Sasuke's door way. A nurse was leaning in.

"Oh! Hello. You startled me." I put my hand on my chest and she laughed.

"I'm sorry! I was just here to change Sasuke's bandages. You're the new night shift nurse…Sakura right?"

"Yes that's me. I was just about to leave. I did just administer some more opioids into his IV though. I logged it already."

"Ok great! Have a good day." I rushed passed her and ran out of my sector. I slowly walked down the dim corridors towards the main entrance.

_***Damn nurse. Why did she have to come in then? What was Sasuke trying to tell me?* **_I sighed as I entered the main lobby. I walked over to the elevator and pressed the button. The doors opened and some employee's of the morning shift stepped out as I walked in. The elevator stopped and when the doors opened I showed the guards my badge. They let me step out. I walked down the long tunnel and when I finally reached the end I swiped my badge to open the door and stepped outside, it heavily slammed behind me. The fresh morning air was inviting. I turned to my right to walk to the parking lot.

"There you are!"

"AH!" I turned around to see Naruto. He was looking at me with a serious face.

"Oh! It's just you. Have you been waiting for me?"

"Yeah I was waiting outside of the tunnel. What took you so long?"

"I went to say goodbye to Sasuke."

"Oh…" A sad look fell on both of our faces.

"Well what's up?"

"Sakura I need you to come with me to my house so we can talk."

"You mean about-" Naruto quickly covered my mouth.

"Shhh, yes. I don't have a car so can you drive us there?" He lowered his hand and I nodded. We walked to the parking lot and got in my car. Naruto directed me to his house. It was very close to the hospital. Naruto jumped out of the car before I could even finish parking and ran into his house. When I finished I stepped out and slowly walked to his front door. When I opened the door it stopped. I tried pushing it but something was blocking it so I squeezed into the small opening and fell inside.

"I'm in here Sakura!" I look down a hallway and see a hand frantically waving up and down and then disappear. It sounded like he was looking through something. I stood to my feet and shut the door locking it behind me. When I looked around there was stuff everywhere. His house looked as if it were completely flipped upside down. I stumbled over the stuff as I walked down the hallway. There was only one light on shining out of a room which lit up the hallway. When I reached it I looked inside the room. It was Naruto's bedroom. He was looking in a little brown box.

"Ha! I knew there was one in here!" He pulled out what seemed to be a weapon of some sort.

"What is it?"

"It's a kunai knife. You've never used one?"

"No I – AH!" I heard something fly by my ear and hit the wall behind me. When I looked to my left I see the kunai knife sticking into the wall not even an inch away from my face. I looked over at Naruto in fear. He was leaning forward with an empty hand in the air. He had a determined smile on his face.

"Well THAT'S how you use it!" Then he stood back to a normal stance and put his left hand on his right shoulder and began twirling it with his eyes closed and a confident smile on his face. I ran over and punched him in the head.

"YOU THINK THAT'S FUNNY? WHY WOULD YOU DO SOMETHING LIKE THAT ARE YA TRYING TO KILL ME!? YOU CAN'T JUST USE ME FOR TARGET PRACTICE YA KNOW!"

"OUCH COME ON SAKURA!" Naruto held the top of his head and ducked down from me. I immediately stopped fuming and stood straight up with my arms crossed.

"I've got to admit though, that was pretty impressive." I winked. Naruto looked up and me and smiled. He stopped hunching down and stood normally.

"So why is your house such a wreck?" Naruto got an angry look on his face.

"Because all of my shit is gone! I left the hospital earlier when I told you I would be back and tore it apart then. All of my kunai and shuriken aren't here anymore!"

"Shuriken…? Wait never mind. Did all of your stuff just randomly disappear overnight?"

"No, it's been gone for a while. Ever since Iruka put his seal on my neck for his mind control jutsu. He must've had someone come here and wipe my house clean of all my weapons."

"Weapons? Weapons for what?" Naruto used his thumb to point at his chest.

"I'm a full-fledged ninja!" I just stared at him. A long silence went by until I couldn't hold it in anymore.

"HAHAHAHA! WHAT!?"

"Hey what are you laughing at!?"

"Because you said you were a NINJA! HAHA!" Naruto got an angry look on his face. I wiped the tears from my eyes and when I lowered my hands he was gone.

"N-Naruto?" I stepped backwards and bumped into him. I jumped and quickly turned around.

"Wait you were just…how did you…?"

"Like I said, I'm ninja."

"Naruto I-"

"Still don't believe me!?" He put his hands together and closed his eyes.

"Naruto its okay you don't have to…oh my God." Naruto turned around and started to walk up the wall, then onto the ceiling. I covered my mouth and he looked down at me smiling with his arms crossed. Then he jumped back down onto the floor in front of me and landed on his hands and feet like a cat.

"Now do you believe me?" Naruto stood up and I laughed while nodding my head.

"Ok yes, you're a ninja. Now my question is…well everything! Have you been able to do this kind of stuff the whole time? And well my answer about the need for weapons as been answered. But still, this is all so confusing. Are there more people out there like you?"

"Whoa Sakura one at a time. And yes I have always been a ninja. I was trained starting at 10 years old. There are others out there like me, in fact, that entire 'hospital' that Iruka owns are all full of elite ninja like myself. Iruka and his 'staff' like Asuma all have the 'patients' under a jutsu. This jutsu places a seal on the back of the person's head near the bottom. This seal keeps the person under their control."

"Well what do you mean by 'control'?

"This jutsu prevents the person from remembering anything about their past. It also keeps their chakra under control. So they can't use it for their abilities." I gasped and covered my mouth. Naruto gave me a weird look. The realization finally hit me. I've never felt so dumb.

"That's why everyone was acting so strange! When Hinata tried to tell me about her Byakugan she suddenly got a headache and grabbed the back of her head, right where this 'seal' would be. And when Kiba tried to tell me about his dog Akamaru he did the same thing! Then when I brought it back up to both of them again, they acted like they had absolutely no idea what I was talking about! It's like; the strength of the jutsu seemed to wear off so they remembered some of their past, but when they brought it up that seal must've taken its effect and caused them to have this 'headache' which made them forget again." Naruto's jaw was dropped.

"I can't believe they even remembered that much, and how they were so comfortable to talk about it with you."

"Naruto you did the same thing! When you were under Iruka's jutsu, I asked what you knew about Sasuke. You just shrugged your shoulders and told me how he was nice to you and you didn't understand. Then you said something crazy like how you felt like you had a connection with him. After that you got a bad headache and had to go lay down in Iruka's office. Do you remember that?"

"Yeah now that you mention it I do."

"It's because Sasuke was your friend, and still is. It was weird though. When you saw him like…like he is now. It threw you over the edge or something. You went crazy Naruto! You, you weren't yourself. When I finally got you to calm down, you passed out. And when you woke up, you remembered everything. Earlier you told Sasuke that the 'nine tails' came out of you it caused the seal to break. What did you mean by that?" Naruto looked down and slowly lifted his shirt. On top of a beautifully tan and ripped stomach was a black circle around his belly button.

"This is a seal. Inside of me, there is a monster. This prevents it from ever breaking free. I've had a shitty childhood because of this thing. What you saw happen to me was when the chakra from this beast comes out. It's no ordinary chakra. It seems to only come out when my own chakra is spent, or when I get infuriated. Especially if someone close to me is hurt. I'm sorry you had to see that, and I'm also sorry I hurt you because of it."

"Naruto don't be sorry, you didn't have much control over your rage at that point. I'm just glad I got you to calm down when I did because Iruka would've seen you that way otherwise. Then shit really would've hit the fan." Naruto nodded. I walked over and sat down on his bed and he sat down next to me. We both sighed at the same time. I just thought about all of the things he told me. Such a scary but beautiful thing. I had no idea people could harness such uncanny powers. But what made me feel worse is that, I felt so simple compared to him. Compared to all of the 'patients'. Who was I to be hired as a nurse for the mentally handicapped…or so they were called. Under a spell from Iruka, so when they do speak of things they sound crazy to a normal person like me. But they themselves are going crazy from these memories that come and go by force. I couldn't hold back my tears any longer. Naruto looked over at me sadly. Sasuke came to my mind and I stopped. Something told me to mention what happened to Naruto.

"Naruto I seen Sasuke's eyes before I left, they were red…" Naruto gasped and his eyes were wide in disbelief.

_***I knew that would mean something to him.***_ I looked into Naruto's eyes. There was hope in them. I could feel it.

"Sasuke and I kind of developed a way to speak to each other. I would ask him questions and he would answer with his eyes. If it was a 'yes' he would look away and then back at me. If it was a 'no' he would just stare. When I saw his eyes like that I asked him if that was his 'gift' and responded with a yes."

"Yeah that's his Sharingan! I don't even understand how he could use it with his body like that!"

"I figured something like that would take a lot of focused energy or 'chakra' as you call it. I was surprised he could use his gift in that severe of a condition as well. So that means there's hope. There's some fight in him, actually a lot of fight. We need to figure out how to get him back Naruto. We need him more than ever if we are going to save your friends from Iruka."

"Don't you think I've been trying to figure that the whole time!? What can we do? Iruka and his team are unstoppable with that jutsu. The only one who could imitate it is Sasuke. That's what his Sharingan is for. He can see his enemy's moves before they even make it in a fight, and when they do, he can see exactly how they do it and copy it right back in a second."

"I get it, so that's why Iruka never placed the seal on him, because he knew he couldn't with Sasuke's ability. That's so amazing. If he got back to normal, we could figure out a way to get him to copy Iruka's jutsu!"

"Don't you think Sasuke would've done that by now!? Even with Sasuke's Sharingan and him being not burnt to a crisp he wasn't able to do anything because he was all alone. And now that I'm finally out of this shit, he's pretty much dead and now I'M alone. It's hopeless, there's no use." Naruto leaned down and put face in his hands.

_***I want to slap him so hard right now for thinking like that! But, he IS right. What CAN we do? Think Sakura…* **_Naruto lifted his head out of his hands and got a puzzled look on his face.

"My question is…why was Sasuke using his Sharingan _on you_ before you left this evening? Sakura, do you have any abilities? Have you ever tapped into your chakra?"

"What? No I can't do anything! I don't even know what chakra is! I didn't even know there were ninja out there that had their own school for training and everything. I think a lot of people don't know about you guys. Well maybe that's why you're called ninjas."

"Yeah those who become ninja are usually because generations of their family before them were ninja."

"Yeah no ninja in my family…just doctors and nurses."

"Well think Sakura, did any of them ever leave for long periods of time or did you even know what hospital they worked in?"

"Now that you mention it, my father was always away. And he would never let me come to work with him. My mother wasn't allowed to come with him either; when I would ask she would always say 'it's a secret.'"

"That's it. He must've been a medicinal ninja himself. There are ninja out there that can use their own chakra to heal others."

"Well I don't think he was a ninja…" I laughed a little but Naruto was completely serious.

"You don't know that though."

"Naruto my mother is dead, it's not like I could go ask her and find out anyway. So why is this even relevant?"

"Because that means it runs in your blood! Sakura I know you have been to medical school so this all seems impossible, but believe me when I say this because I had to learn about it, this shit regarding our chakra is down to a science! A biological science." I learned forward and put my hand on my forehead.

"I just don't know Naruto. No…I can't do anything. Even if I could, I don't know how to even harness my chakra or whatever you call it."

"Sakura I was an idiot in school. If I could learn than so can you."

"Yeah but you started learning when you were 10."

"Sakura just hear me out, why would Sasuke of used his Sharingan on you? He sensed it; he sensed your chakra so he was trying to read it. What exactly happened when he first used it on you?"

"Naruto I have no idea. I'm still confused by the whole thing. I was talking to him and I remember saying how if I could have any power then it would be to fix him. I went to leave and when I did he actually moved! He grabbed my wrist to stop me. And when I turned around to look at him his eyes were red. I asked him if that was his gift and he answered 'yes' as I told you before. So I said I don't understand why you're stopping me was it something I said and he responded 'yes'. When I repeated my last statement to him which was 'I wish I could have the power to fix you' he grabbed my wrist again and answered 'yes'." Naruto's jaw dropped. He then grabbed my shoulders and pulled me into an embrace.

"Sakura you're the answer! You can fix him!" I pushed Naruto away from me and gave him a weird look. He had a huge smile on his face, and hope was in his eyes.

"He was telling you that you DO have the power to fix him. He could see it with his Sharingan. Don't you get it!? That's what he was trying to tell you!"

"But…"

"Sakura, you have a family with generations of nurses and doctors. And a father that was never home because 'it was a secret'. How more obvious can it be? Harnessing your chakra to heal is in your blood!"

_***He might actually be…no…he can't be right. This is crazy!* **_The thought that I could actually have this ability running in my blood was too farfetched. I remember watching the silly movies with ninjas in black outfits. And now to think that I could potentially harness the power of one was beyond me. This all was happening too fast. I didn't know what to think. But what I did know is that I wanted to help Naruto. What I did know is that I wanted to see Sasuke look like he used to. Even though he didn't particularly like me, I still felt a deep caring for him.

"Okay I'll do it." Naruto looked up at me in confusion.

"You'll do what?"

"I don't know! Whatever it is that you think I can do! Teach me…I don't know…"

"Ah man look at the time, we need to get some sleep first. We have to make sure we get to work on time and act like everything is what it was. I will teach you soon. But for now…" Naruto stood up and began to walk out of his room. He gestured at me to follow him. He took me into his living room and walked over to his book shelf. He grabbed a bunch of books and handed them to me.

"These will get you started. Study these to learn how to channel your chakra and the way it works with your body. Remember you're a nurse for a reason, so this stuff will be a breeze to you. It's in your blood."

"I don't understand, wouldn't of Iruka had these taken out of your house too? Being that he was trying to erase your ninja past from you and all." Naruto grabbed the first book from the pile and blew on the top of it. A large cloud of dust formed in the air. Then he opened the book and slammed it closed, more dust.

"I don't read. Everybody knows that. Those were just the ones I was issued from the academy." Naruto laughed and place the book back on top of the pile.

"They have been sitting in that same spot for years. I just remembered that I even had them!" Naruto pushed his stuff out of the front door's path and held it open for me.

"Go home and get some sleep. Call me when you get there." He wrote down his number and handed the piece of paper to me.

"N-Naruto, maybe you should come with me? What if Iruka finds out that you're not under his jutsu anymore? I mean don't you think he would've sensed it or something?" Naruto scratched the top of his head.

"Shit you've got a point. I mean, he hasn't been acting any different. I guess we'll have to find out the hard way. This just means we will need to get Sasuke better twice as fast."

"Yeah, and you only live 5 minutes away from the hospital. Not to mention he knows where you live. Yeah, you're staying at my place for a while. I will worry too much won't sleep. This way you can help me learn faster too."

"Another good point…just let me grab a few things and I'll meet you out in the car." I see Naruto run down the hallway and pull his kunai out of the wall. Then he runs into his bedroom. I walked out to my car and put the books in the back seat. I sat for a few minutes and he finally came out with a full back pack. I could see clothes hanging out of it. He jumped into the passenger seat and we drove to my house. I sit the books on the floor next to my bed and get a blank and pillow so he could sleep on the couch.

"I've got my alarm set so we won't be late tomorrow."

"Ok Sakura, goodnight. And thanks for your help. You're really smart you know that? I can tell. Sasuke will be better in no time!" I laughed.

"I'm not sure how I helped but you're welcome. Goodnight." I turned out the light and closed the blinds. I hear Naruto start snoring almost immediately and laugh quietly to myself. I lay on my side and stared at the top of his head. His hair seemed to be permanently spiked.

_***Such an optimistic weirdo. Well at least one of us is.* **_I sighed.

_***I really hope I can learn how to do this. He's really depending on me… Sasuke's really depending on me.***_ The image of his face came to mind. How I yearned to see it once more in person. But I had no hope that I could ever heal him. The thought that if I _didn't_ learn how to heal with my chakra, well then I would be deciding everyone's fate at the hospital. Their doom to be under Iruka's eternal control would be my fault. Sasuke needed to be back to normal if this plan was going to work. The plan to free all of their fellow ninja…their friends.


End file.
